Here's a story that was told to me when I was 17 years old by a friend of my mother's. At first, I did not understand it, but there is great wisdom embedded in it. It served me well over the years, so I'll share it with you.
True story. A senior in an American high school is accused of cheating on a math exam. He swears to his teacher that he wasn't. The teacher refuses to believe him. The more the students insists that he's innocent, the angrier the teacher becomes.The teacher still doesn't believe him, tears up his paper and sends him to the principal's office. The principal also accuses him of cheating and supports the teacher's accusations. Again,the boy insists that he wasn't cheating and that his teacher has wrongly accused him. He pleads, he swears, he promises, he insists - but the principal just doesn't believe him. There is nothing the boy can say to prove his innocence. Nobody is listening and as far as he is concerned, he's unjustly condemned. Finally, the principal says that not only did he cheat on the exam, he's lying about it as well and punishes the boy. He has to run around the outdoor track 2 times ( roughly 2 miles)The boy says nothing, and leaves the office dejected.
It's the middle of December and the weather is cold, windy and it's snowing. The teacher and the principal are gazing out the window of the school watching the boy run around the snow-covered track. They watch him run around once, twice,
and are shocked to see him continue running around another 8 times.
Do you think the boy was innocent or guilty?
True story. A senior in an American high school is accused of cheating on a math exam. He swears to his teacher that he wasn't. The teacher refuses to believe him. The more the students insists that he's innocent, the angrier the teacher becomes.The teacher still doesn't believe him, tears up his paper and sends him to the principal's office. The principal also accuses him of cheating and supports the teacher's accusations. Again,the boy insists that he wasn't cheating and that his teacher has wrongly accused him. He pleads, he swears, he promises, he insists - but the principal just doesn't believe him. There is nothing the boy can say to prove his innocence. Nobody is listening and as far as he is concerned, he's unjustly condemned. Finally, the principal says that not only did he cheat on the exam, he's lying about it as well and punishes the boy. He has to run around the outdoor track 2 times ( roughly 2 miles)The boy says nothing, and leaves the office dejected.
It's the middle of December and the weather is cold, windy and it's snowing. The teacher and the principal are gazing out the window of the school watching the boy run around the snow-covered track. They watch him run around once, twice,
and are shocked to see him continue running around another 8 times.
Do you think the boy was innocent or guilty?
posted by LindaN @ 6:35 AM
1 Comments:
At 8:38 AM,
Anonymous said…
I believe that the boy was infact innocent! If the boy had been guilty of cheating and lieing then he would have simply completed his punishment. He could have received a much harsher punishment and would be led to believe that he had been let off easily. However, the boy not only accepted his punishment, he took it a step further. He was making a statement!! I'm sure he knew that his punishment was going to be supervised to make sure that it was completed. In my opinon, the boy thought that by running 8 more times he would be proving a point. I know that if i was falsely accused of commiting such an act then i would have not let it go so easily. I would have accepted my punishment because i was no match for the principal and therefore would have had to go to extremes to prove my innocence. I believe the boy was sending a message. He was innocent.
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