Who's In Charge Around Here!? (Influences In A Child's Life)

I can name the five people who most influenced me as a youth. These five
people did things for me or to me that strongly influenced the kind of
person I turned into. A quick survey of my co-workers and friends shows that
these are pretty normal influences in a kid's life:

5) Mrs. Markovich (5th Grade Teacher) for lighting a fire under my desk and
being concerned enough to talk to my parents about her suspicions.

4) Mrs. Henry (9th Grade English/Literature Teacher) for lighting another
fire and for not accepting work that was below my abilities.

3) Mrs. Tennison (10th, 11th, 12th Grade English/Literature Teacher) for not
taking any "crap," being patient, and not letting me get away with "just
sliding by"!

2) My Grandfather, for showing me that I can do anything I put my mind to,
that it takes practice to be good at anything, and that it's okay to make
mistakes.

1) My Scoutmaster, who was also my Cubmaster and Webelos Leader, and who
happens to be my father; for being there, for showing me that you don't
always get what you want and you should make the best of what you got.

There have been hundreds of other influences on my life, but these are the
top five. Now, I could write a couple thousand words on what specifically
each one of these people did to keep me on the right track, but this isn't
the place for it. You'll notice that three of the five are teachers. I guess
I was fortunate to have my father as my Scoutmaster. If he hadn't been, Mrs.
Markovich wouldn't have made this list. Others who would be in the top five
are assistant Scoutmasters, fellow Scouts, and (believe it or not) even a
professional Scouter.

To be fair, I have decided to give equal time to the "other" list. Here are
the (unnamed) top five people who influenced my life negatively as a youth:

5)

4) All those generic adults who felt schools should keep me away from books
(and other materials) they didn't like.

3) My 9th grade Science teacher who taught me that adults aren't always
truthful, and they don't always tell you everything you need to know.

2) My 10th grade Phys.Ed./Gen.Bus. teacher who taught me that petty
squabbles between adults were more important to some adults than actually
educating young people.

1) My fourth grade teacher who taught me that lack of common sense and
hypocrisy were things I could expect from the adult world.

Why am I telling you this? Because every adult who works with children in
any way should know everything they do can effect a child for the rest of
his/her life. Notice, that I said everything they "DO". As Scouters we know
that the example we set in what we do is much more powerful that what we
say. Most of the people who have influenced me negatively said one thing and
did something else. Either that or they said a thing, and later broke their
word.

An overwhelming majority of the adults I dealt with as a child knew that
their actions spoke louder than their words. So, what are we teaching our
children? Just take a look at what they see around them from the adult world
and you'll know.

YIS
Anthony J. Mako, ajmako@apk.net, http://junior.apk.net/~ajmako/
Scoutmaster, Troop 381 http://members.aol.com/Scouts381/
Home of the Unofficial Boy Scout Desktop Theme
Great Trail Council, Ohio

"I used to be an Eagle (C-7-97), but I'll always be an Eagle (1981)"

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