The Story of a Boy:
The boy was born and raised in poverty. His mother was one of 24 children; she married at the age of 13 years and dropped out of school after 3rd grade (primary 3). She had two sons, got divorced and became a single mother, raising her sons by herself. All of this was quite stressful and overwhelming for her and she became depressed to the extent that she needed to be hospitalized in a mental institution a few times.
The boy's mother sometimes took on two or three jobs at a time, usually as a domestic servant (house help), in order to provide for her boys. Sometimes the boys would not see their mother for days, she would leave for work at 5:00am and return home around 11:pm going from one job to the next. When this boy started school, he was often at the bottom of his class, and his classmates made fun of him. He developed a violent and uncontrollable temper, and was known to attack other children at the slightest provocation. He was always fighting and getting into trouble.
However, the boy's mother refused to allow him to settle for less than the best and decided to take matters into her own hands. She made him read two library books a week and produce written reports on each book. She encouraged him to believe that he could be highly successful at anything he wanted to do. At first, the boy resented this strict regimen. While his friends were playing outside, he was stuck in the house or the library, forced to read a book or do his homework. After several weeks, he began to find enjoyment in reading. Being poor, there was not much opportunity to go anywhere but between the covers of a books he read, he could go any places, be anybody and do anything.
The boy began to learn how to use his imagination and found this more enjoyable than watching television. This love for reading gave him a strong desire to learn and he read books on all types of subjects. He began to realize that he was not stupid and very soon he rose to the top of his class. The hunger for knowledge had taken hold of him and within a year, his teachers and classmates were amazed with his improvement. He started to receive a lot of praise, which helped his self-esteem and made him enjoy school and reading even more. He eventually graduated from school and became a medical doctor.
This is the true life story of an American called Dr. Ben Carson. Today he is one of the most gifted neurosurgeons in the world. He was the first Black Head of the Department of Paediatric Neurosurgery at John's Hopkins Hospital, U.S.A. He was the first person in the world to successfully seperate Siamese twins. Several Best selling books have been written by him and about him and a movie has been made about his life.
Lesson to parent or guardian:
There is a very important difference in his upbringing; despite his behaviours, his mother viewed him in a positive light. Rather than focusing on the negatives and constantly criticizing his mistakes or punishing him, she actively nurtured him and promoted his development. In other words, she filled his mental health cup.
Focusing on negative behaviours does not promote the value of the child. Do everything in your capacity to support your child's mental health.
Child mental health is the wealth of a nation!
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