OCR Text |
Show r True friendships transcend neighborhood "This is the saddest day of my life," Daron, my seventh grade son announced one afternoon six years ago as he entered our home after school. "What happened?' I asked. "Jimmy is moving and I'll never see him again," Daron said, his voice quivering. jjS Columnly I Speaking I by Doneta Gathe um I was thinking about this experience experi-ence last Tuesday evening as I listened to a continuous line of parents explain why their children should be allowed to attend a certain cer-tain high school. Some of the reasons were valid while others lacked logic and were emotion-filled. emotion-filled. The occasion was a public hearing sponsored by the Davis County Board of Education to gather public input regarding high school boundary changes necessitated by the construction of a new high school in north Layton. Daron and Jimmy became friends because of a boundary change, the strangest change I believe Davis School District has ever made. The boys were in the third grade when the school district decided to bus a small number of students living liv-ing in the extreme southern portion of Layton and a small number of students living in north Layton to an elementary school located near the center of the city. Jimmy lived on the south end and Daron was transported from the north. The quiet, scared boys met in the classroom and in just a few days they discovered they liked each other. Soon they were best friends, a situation that continued even though Jimmy moved to the east side of Layton before leaving the state four years later for Texas. This special friendship transcended neighborhood boundaries. boun-daries. In fact, if the school district hadn 't decided on the unique redistricting of elementary school boundaries, the boys never would have met. This would have been tragic because they offered each other many valuable gifts that cement ce-ment a strong, lasting friendship. Daron was right about never seeing see-ing his best friend again. During the past six years, the boys have not communicated. This is all right. Jimmy and Daron's friendship, like most, eventually dissolve physically while still remaining strong as a good memory. Other friends entered Daron's life after Jimmy moved, each bring ing with them special qualities that helped Daron establish his personality, per-sonality, standards, ideals and goals. Many high school friends came from a junior high that Daron didn't attend. Some became acquainted with Daron through inter-school sports, city recreation programs, community programs, church activities ac-tivities and just being a mobile teen. Scout camp and boys' state broadened Daron's base of friends to include boys from different cities throughout the state. A boundary change is significant. How the child and the parent deals with the situation is more significant. signifi-cant. In the case of two 8-year-old boys, an unusual boundary change created the opportunity to experience experi-ence true friendship for the first time. First friends remain best friends forever. |