For those children who live in poverty; for those
children whose parents lost their jobs; for those children who lost their homes
through foreclosures—how dare anyone suggest to them that there are no such
things as losers.
For those children who live in broken homes; for
those children whose father, mother or both abandoned them; for those children
who have a parent in jail or mental institution—how dare anyone suggest to them
that there are no such things as losers.
For those children who were born slow because
their mother was addicted during pregnancy; for those children uprooted and on
the move continuously from one tenement to another; for those children who live
in high crime areas and bad neighborhoods—how dare anyone suggest to them that
there are no such things as losers.
For those children who suffer from handicaps since
birth; for those children who never had parents who tried hard to make them
feel like winners; for those children with an alcoholic parent; for those
children abused physically, even sexually, and mentally—how dare anyone suggest
to them that there are no such things as losers.
For those children born in an atmosphere of
hopelessness; for those children without ethical training or loving disciple;
for those children who witness their parents in low esteem jobs and rebuffed by
the best families—how dare anyone suggest to them that there are no such
things as losers.
For those children who were never read to or
encouraged to learn; for those children with disenfranchised parents who never
vote or show a public spirit; for those children with arrogant parents who set
impossibly high goals; for those children whose parents are rank materialists and show no interest in character or the spiritual life—how dare anyone suggest
to them that there are no such things as losers.
For those children who are not good at an activity
and are always chosen last; for those children who can never afford the “right”
clothes or live in the “right” neighborhoods; for those children forced to live
on the mean streets and fend for themselves; for those children who hate to see
Christmas come because they never get anything nice or special like the hot toy
they can brag to their friends about—how dare anyone suggest to them that there
are no such things as losers.
My proposal is that all such children in school be
informed immediately of the heretofore unknown fact that there are such things
as losers. Otherwise they will surely be
engulfed in a plush fantasy world unrelated to reality in which their winning
status is forever unassailable.
