LFL # 27 => Don’t Follow The herd

A couple of weeks ago, we were playing on a carom board at home and one of my daughters told me about an incident at school. She explained that the teacher had given her marks to a couple of questions that were actually wrong. I asked her what happened next. She said she discussed with her friends, as they also got the same credits and none of them opted to inform the teacher, as she had marked them tough in the past assignments.

Then, she asked me what my thoughts were? I smiled at her and said, “The choice is yours.”

She turned around and asked her sibling and her mother. They had their own opinion and she returned back to me.

I told her, “Let’s finish this game and we’ll deal with this story later.” After we finished the game, I told her, “I will give you two questions to ponder before you go to sleep tonight. If you were to lose the marks due to the correction, will the change in marks create a dent in your academic career? And, will failure to disclose to your teacher make you feel burdened?”

The next morning before departing, I kissed her and said, “Have a good day.”

In the evening, she returned home from school and found me in the kitchen. She hugged me and whispered; “It felt nice to get it off my shoulder.” She smiled and said, “I told the teacher about the marks and she said it was mine to keep. “

I asked her, “How do you feel now?” She replied, “I am at peace and it’s the best feeling”.

I told her peer pressure could force one to make choices, which we regret for the rest of our lives. Some decisions have a minor impact in our lives while others can leave behind turbulence. But I appreciate the fact that we talk and discuss, which is helpful because we both learn from each other.

Later on, I said to her, “In life, not all choices are easy and trade offs can be quite punitive but it depends on who you are and what are your values. In the end, do what makes your life peaceful and don’t follow the herd.”

CA/GL-06/17/18

Please share with your families and friends