TOMMIE SAYLOR: Make the world a better place by starting with the person in the mirror

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror I’m asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself, and then make a change”

Michael Jackson, Man In the Mirror

By Tommie Saylor

Kennedy High School Principal

Lead by example.

The police allegedly commit a horrific crime in the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner, the place where Francis Scott Key penned our very own anthem, the place where our freedom and way of life danced on the knife’s edge two centuries ago, and people lose their minds.

In their anger, in protest of the alleged crime committed by those who have sworn to protect us, the people lash out, engaging in crimes just as horrific as those they are protesting against. Looting, burning, destroying public and private property, beating any who cross their path, spreading pain and misery in a wide arc throughout an enraged city and exacting their vengeance upon the innocent. They become the very ugliness of which they are protesting against.

A student posts an unsubstantiated allegation on social media, a bogus retort about being bullied at school, and once again people lose their minds. The administration, who according to this student have neglected to insure her safety at school, are bombarded with phone calls and emails from as far away as Scotland and Australia, all saying horrible things.

An overly dramatic teenage girl portrays school supervision as uncaring ogres. People from all over the world feel empowered to take a cheap shot. It is all based on nothing more than one young person’s public ranting. It is done without fact checking or investigating, without listening to both sides of a story, or even a single ounce of evidence.

The public commits the very same crime they claim to be rallying against. They publically and personally bully the administration in social media, news feeds, phone calls and emails. The public becomes the ugly monster for which they claim to be fighting. They become the bully and the administration a voiceless victim for which there are no saviors.

Our kids see this. They see how we react when events don’t occur the way we envision. They see how we talk to each other, how we behave toward each other. They see how we dehumanize during disagreements. They see how we physically and verbally attack our oppositions.

Essentially, they see us bullying each other on a daily basis, as easily as we draw breath. Yet, when they mimic our very own behavior in school toward others that are different, we seem shocked and are quick to place the blame on the school staff for allowing this to happen.

The public does not consider that their children are only carrying out what they have been taught at home and what they see on the evening news.

If we want to stop bullying in our schools, we need to first stop bullying on our computers, on our streets, and in our homes.

You want to make the world a better place? Take a look into the mirror, see yourself for who you really are and make a change.

We all need to learn how to love our neighbor, forgive our neighbor and respect our neighbor as we wish to be respected. We need to become the people we want our children to be.

What starts here, changes the world. Making Kennedy the school of choice. Excellence by design.