Making mistakes are a part of everyday life. None of us are perfect. Therefore, it is only fair that apologies should be part of life as well.
But I suppose it is also ?possible that there is something peculiar about the ?prospect of apologies.
It seems that there is a specific time and place for them. We must apologize only if and when we feel it is necessary.
They are not often all equally effective either.
Let us consider the recent news of an elementary school that apologized for replacing a blind student’s cane with a pool noodle.
The idea itself already seems absurd.
Who would ever do such thing?
Yet, it actually happened in a primary school in North Kansas City.
The blind boy, Dakota Nafzginger, who was born without eyes, had his cane taken away from him. The school board confirmed taking away the 8-year-old boy’s cane.
He was instead given a pool noodle in its place. According to the school, the cane was school property.
The reason for this was because he had reportedly hit another kid on the school bus.
Dakota’s parents reacted with distaste.
The school, although initially standing by their pool noodle decision, quickly issued an apology after Dakota’s story was aired on television.
Now, there seems to be something displeasing with the whole matter: the apology came at the wrong time.
Maybe in trickier situations, the mistake might be more understandable, but not this one.
It does not take a genius to figure out the consequences of depriving a blind child of his cane.
This is the kind of incident that should have never occurred in the first place.
It is cruel and unusual punishment.
And it is not the first time a school board has infringed upon a student’s rights.
And yet, it still took all this hassle for the school to come to their final realization.
There was no discussion for why the boy struck ?another student with the cane in the first place.
All of this is a bit ?alarming, considering we’re talking about an institution that educates children.
Beyond mistreating the disabled, it’s clear that the school is also abusing the meaning behind genuinely apologizing for one’s mistake.
The school’s statement was obviously a tactic used only to stop further escalation of the news.
It remains questionable, however, whether they ?realize the extent of ?wrongness in their actions.
It suffices to say that while there has been an apology, little comfort is to be found.
Maybe this means it is not a time for apologies, but ?rather a re-examination of how schools and educational institutions should treat disabled children.
Schools must set examples for students.
An accidental bump into another person is not reason to deprive a child of his only method of seeing, and further disgracing him by giving him a pool noodle in its place.
nywu@indiana.edu
