Middle School football team goes behind coaches' backs to set up special play

There isn't anything I could add to this better than what those boys said simply by doing what they did.

Bravo, guys.

Recently I read about all the stupid things schools suspend kids for. Popping bags of chips, stopping an assault, reporting students for having sex on the bus. Wouldn't surprise me if they got punished for this wonderful, generous act.

Ah, jesus, I'm such a sap. I cried, right along with the kid. I'm so glad to see this kind of thing happen more and more with special needs kids. It's so much different from when I was in school, and I'm so grateful for it. It's very heartwarming to see other children being *kind* to my special needs kid, and to see it happen for others, too. Even better is seeing the change in attitudes.

Rina Evans said:

Recently I read about all the stupid things schools suspend kids for. Popping bags of chips, stopping an assault, reporting students for having sex on the bus. Wouldn't surprise me if they got punished for this wonderful, generous act.

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I doubt it, Rina. I've seen this kind of thing before of late, and there has been no punishment. If there were, there would be a huge backlash from the community at large.

Take as a warning any Facebook post pointing to an Upworthy video that says something about "dust in my eye."

When I saw the headline I thought it was a play as in a theatre production. Middle School Musical, anyone?

I'm not crying, it's just a very localized rain storm. Inside. Around my eyes.

Absolutely heartwarming.

Screw the NFL. This is what sportsmanship is all about.

Or should be about.

It's so much different from when I was in school, and I'm so grateful for it.

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It's strikingly different, and so heartening. Do you think it's due to the increase in mainstreaming kids with special needs?

I'll never forget going on a visit, as a medical student, to a special education classroom at one of the local schools--it was a requirement for our child development course. There were kids with Down syndrome and autism and spina bifida, and the teacher was telling us about how the kids did their academics in that classroom and then did "specials"--music, art, and gym--with their peers. Gym. I remember asking the guy if that was hard for the kids, if they took abuse for not being as strong or swift as their peers, but he said for the most part no.

This was difficult for me to imagine based on the Hunger Games dynamic of my own grade school, but it made me think that maybe we are getting better in some small ways.

TerzaRima said:

It's strikingly different, and so heartening. Do you think it's due to the increase in mainstreaming kids with special needs?

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I do. I also credit the fact that people no longer shut their disabled relatives away in an institution, and that by and large, doctors have stopped recommending people do so. Society at large has made pretty big strides in accepting people with disabilities. Legislation such as IDEA and ADA have had a big influence in driving those changes, too, I think, and have helped to allow people with disabilities to get out and about more, too.

TerzaRima said:

I'll never forget going on a visit, as a medical student, to a special education classroom at one of the local schools--it was a requirement for our child development course. There were kids with Down syndrome and autism and spina bifida, and the teacher was telling us about how the kids did their academics in that classroom and then did "specials"--music, art, and gym--with their peers. Gym. I remember asking the guy if that was hard for the kids, if they took abuse for not being as strong or swift as their peers, but he said for the most part no.

This was difficult for me to imagine based on the Hunger Games dynamic of my own grade school, but it made me think that maybe we are getting better in some small ways.

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And we are. My son was mainstreamed for quite a long time, and even now, he still goes to music classes and gym with his peers. The other kids seem to like him, and they wave and say "Hi!" when they see him out in public, away from school. It makes my heart glad. He also gets to do some "community activities" which include swimming lessons at the local high school, which the swim team there helps with, and interacts with the kids. I imagine that has quite a bit of impact, too. Even if adults (and some teens and young adults) don't quite get it, the younger kids really seem to. They've grown up with these kids in their classes, and they see they are kids just like them, just with some difficulties.

Oh my God. How beautiful. I loved the kid in tears at the end, and how he talked about the way the experienced changed him. They set out to make their teammate feel good, and they felt a lot better themselves.