The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXX

Tavio Mares-Van Praag
Kate Boswell & Alex Jones, Teachers
The Advent School
Courage is standing up for what you believe in, even if it changes what others
think of you.
Earlier in the summer, during quarantine due to coronavirus, my soccer team
resumed training. It was socially distant and everyone was required to wear
masks. At first, things were going well. Everyone had their own big square
of cones that they had to stay inside for the entire training. But as time went
on, and cases went down slightly, they got rid of the squares, and training was
normal; except for the fact that we were supposed to wear masks. Emphasis
on supposed. Unfortunately, not everyone was wearing their masks correctly,
some not even wearing them at all.
One time before a scrimmage, my team was huddling, socially distanced, to
strategize for the game. Everything was fine, until one of the players stood
up (while not properly wearing his mask) and went within six feet of people,
coughing on them as a “joke.” Even if my mom wasn’t at higher risk because
of her cancer I still would have intervened, but at that moment I wasn’t
thinking just about her. I was thinking about the thousands of people who
died every day because of this virus. About how lucky we were to be able to
play soccer during a global pandemic. About how people could be so blind
to an obvious threat when there’s an easy solution of social distancing and
wearing a mask.
So I did what I knew was right. I didn’t care what my teammates would think
of me, I just knew that I had to point out that what he had done was wrong. I
told him that we were incredibly lucky to be able to play, and actions like his
could easily put our season in jeopardy. I told him that thousands of people
were dying every day, and that their deaths were not a joke. I told him that
actions like that were the exact reason that this pandemic is as bad as it is,
and just caring a little bit about keeping others safe could save lives.
Surprisingly, others supported me. Although they didn’t say as much as me,
their simple words of, “Yeah!” or, “Not cool, dude,” showed that they too
knew how important it was to stay safe. Although this didn’t solve the problem
completely, it taught a couple people the importance of staying safe, and I see
that as a total win in my book.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
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