Challenge #02520-F330: Teach to Learn
You know the one student that's always alone? The one student that, for some reason, just seems unable to make any friends? Often they're bullied while everyone else turns a blind eye even when they ask for help. A student can turn one of many ways in this kind of situation. They can turn into a killer, they can harm themselves, they can bottle it up and explode later, or, for the unusual few, it can make them even gentler even when their heart's broken. School.. they graduated almost 20 earth years ago. But still, some nights, they woke up crying. The cruelty they endured in their youth had left a long, harsh, scar upon their heart, matching the many physical scars, like the burn marks that caused permanent stripes along the arms. The alarm went off, it was time to get to work, they had a mixed class of haven worlders and humans to teach. A gentle smile on the kind face, while the broken soul hid within the heart. -- Anon Guest
[AN: I get the feeling that this is very important to OP, so - Nonny, wherever you are, take heart. Those scars stop hurting so much, after a while. That, and we can all take steps to be certain more children don't gain the same scars.]
There's a certain feeling that comes from growing up in an era that introduces all the things you need after you're done needing them. Whilst you are clambering at the cracks you fell through, struggling to create coping mechanisms and falling afoul of every single unforeseen pit-trap... others who follow you walk calmly along on paving-stones laid by someone who never saw you there. It is, very loosely, frustrating.
Imagine fighting for a lifetime. Imagine struggling along a rocky and weed-strewn path, only to find that someone behind you has been making a better path. Yet you can never turn around, go back, and use the path that's been made because that way lies even worse ruin. Imagine the exhaustion. Imagine the frustration. Imagine the tears one could shed. Now imagine becoming a guide for all those who need that path, and would benefit from that guidance.
Some people suffer and insist that others take their turn in the same suffering. Some people suffer and lash out at the world around them. Some people suffer and retreat from all causes of further pain. Lynn... suffered and chose to help others prevent any further suffering. Which was why she was among the first to learn Galactic teaching methods. There were so many changes that should have been done so long ago, and Lynn frankly wished they had.
Mindful meditation worked to cut down on bullying in all its forms, if the bullies themselves were encouraged to use it. Likewise therapy and encouraging all students to accept differences and variety in life. It was a breath of fresh air in the very same way that it was an uphill battle. Home life for that first generation of kids was so very different from school life and the struggle was very clear.
Parents were up in arms for varied reasons, screaming about how the new schooling system made their kids soft, lazy, stupid, or generally opposed to their parents' views about life in general. They complained, even when it became clear that the new ways were better ways, and that teaching things like empathy, consent, and caring alongside the traditional skills of literacy and numeracy was important.
The Galactics and Havenworlders who came to Earth had their children integrate into Galactic-style schools, and suddenly the narrative changed to solid victim-blaming. What did they have to fear? Why were they going to school in livesuits? Followed closely by, What did they expect to happen when they went to school without their livesuits? Which neatly encapsulates the philosophy of the chronically xenophobic in two easy breaths.
Lynn remained determined, and determined to remain unperturbed. She had copies of information sheets on hand, concerning which Galactic Citizens needed what class of Livesuit, and why those children were even in a Deathworlder school to begin with. Mostly, it was because people like them had already successfully campaigned against species specific segregation. Fortunately, Lynn was way too polite to include the phrase, "You're the one who kicked yourself in the rear, dumbass."
That generation would take almost a century to dwindle away. Their attitudes would linger for up to two of them. Lynn knew exactly what it felt like to dig and dig and dig away at prejudice and ignorance and feel like she was getting nowhere. She knew intensely what it was like to throw herself at obstacles again and again. She was but one wave wearing down the cliffs of obstinacy. There were others.
Sooner or later, they would all learn to be better. In the meantime, she would fight. Like she had fought all her life.
In that, her experience made her perfect for the job.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / kirstypargeter]
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