Reading about Ty’sheoma Bethea in Howard Witt’s Chicago Tribune article, I could not help but be reminded of a quote by Charles Schwabb:

I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.

A 14 year-old picked up on that, which is why a portion of her letter was deservedly read during President Obama’s recent address. It is clear from her words that she was starting to feel the weight of negativity and doubt, rather than the inspiritment of hope and possibility:

“People are starting to see my school as an hopeless, uneducated school which we are not,” Ty’Sheoma wrote. “We finally want to prove to the world that we have an chance in life just like other schools and we can feel good about what we are doing because of the conditions we are in now we can not succeed in anything”

We get what we reward. And, right now we are rewarding the same old tired story of what is wrong with America, the economy and whatever else. We forget that our children are listening, and it is our responsibility to show them differently and to encourage them. We can overcome anything. We are capable of great things. The current climate is fertile soil for innovation, ingenuity, and new and better habits. Obama read these words of Ty’sheoma:

“We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world,’” Obama said. “We are not quitters.”

(Getty photo by Alex Wong / February 24, 2009)