No Such Thing as Stupid

I'm sure we've all had moments in our life where we've had to instruct or teach someone and were completely frustrated by the experience. Maybe the person just wasn't listening to you or they weren't understanding you or you didn't know how to help them. While I'm not by any means a professional I have tutored children from time to time who have had trouble with reading or writing and sometimes both at the same time. I have had my share of frustrating days tutoring but it has taught me that most importantly there is no such thing as a stupid child.
What I mean by this is that children are never stupid, they are all highly intelligent and capable of learning no matter what handicaps they may have. Children learn as much as those around them are willing to teach. Do keep in mind that teaching comes through actual knowledge and effort working together, you can't just spoon information out into their heads. Children need you to be patient and to show them things more than once sometimes. You may wonder why I'm writing about this today and it is because I heard something truly appalling while trying to eat dinner in the cafeteria tonight. The girl and her friends at the table behind me (all clearly freshmen) were discussing a student's work. First off, you never discuss a student's work with your friends, that was her first mistake. The second mistake she made were far worse though. She proceeded to read the student's work out loud to them and emphasize all of their spelling errors She then loudly proclaimed, "See, he isn't dyslexic, he's just stupid."
I was completely shocked. How dare she call this poor child stupid. I mean, what kind of monster does that? Yes, I will call her a monster. I'm not someone that has ever been particularly maternal but making fun of a child that is giving you their trust and hoping you can help them is beyond wrong. From what I heard her reading the child clearly was dyslexic but that doesn't really matter. What matters is is that he is not stupid. Like I said earlier no child can be stupid. Children are incredibly smart when given the chance to learn and succeed no matter what may try to hold them back, even a disorder like dyslexia. This child should have, no he deserves, a tutor that will tell him he's smart and is willing to sit down and have the patience to work with him so he understands the words he's trying to form. He also needs someone that sees the beauty in what he has to write and who will encourage it, not mock it.
People like this girl do not deserve to be working with children. Being a tutor isn't the most glamorous job a college student can dream of but it is one of the most educational and rewarding. I hope that she sees this before she ruins this child's educational experience. What you teach children when they are young is retained for their whole lives. If they are taught that they are stupid they will always think they are and in some cases even act that way in their adult life because they have no sense of pride in their intelligence. Remember the next time you see a child struggling with their work to tell them that they're smart and that they can do it. Let them know that they are worth the effort, don't act like this girl and call them names like some arrogant douche with nothing better to do.