VANDALS ALWAYS HAVE TO RUIN IT FOR THE REST.

We've all experienced this, haven't we? Authorities revoke a wonderful privilege or ban a device because of one unthinking individual's rash behaviour. Our sense of injustice is multiplied when the perpetrator of the mischief receives little or no punishment.

This excerpt from Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School) shows how an expensive machine was ruined by one boy's bone-headed stunt.

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This room also contained a primitive print enlarging machine. Light from an incandescent bulb illuminated the page and lenses in a box projected it to a white translucent screen. This made reading more enjoyable. Furthermore, I discovered I could see my drawings in greater detail. Volcanoes were what I passionately enjoyed sketching at the time. I created my own "television shows" based on what I drew. I loved that machine and used it often that autumn.

I felt devastated when Jimmy yielded to a destructive urge and jumped off the top of the bookshelf one Saturday. He deliberately put his foot through that remarkable print enlarger. I don't recall if Jimmy received punishment for his vandalism but the school removed the machine and they never replaced it.

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Deliverance from Jericho is filled with many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Read more about Deliverance from Jericho here. Please feel free to contact me directly as well.

FACING CONSEQUENCES

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." That's one of many excuses people use to justify doing something stupid. I was no exception. In the spring of 1967, I encouraged some boys to throw rocks at the windows of an old shed. Not only did our supervisor send us to bed after supper for six weeks but our parents were billed for the damage we caused.

From Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), this is what happened when I, not realizing what awaited me, arrived home that summer.

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All the way home, I anticipated the immense pleasure of having two whole months of summer freedom and fun. I was totally unprepared for a verbal assault when Mom called me into the kitchen. "What's this about you breaking windows at school?" she demanded. Guilt washed over me as I recalled the rock- throwing incident in May. "The school sent us a bill for twenty-six dollars," Mom snapped.

"How many windows did you break?"

"I don't know. A couple of other kids were breaking them too."

"Well then, why did we get this bill for twenty-six dollars?" she demanded as she shoved the letter in my face. As I had no answer to that question, I mutely stared at the floor. "I bet they sent all the parents of those kids the same bill," Mom surmised.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

LET HIM WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE.

In past posts, I've written about how the administrators at Jericho Hill School made our lives miserable with their arbitrary rules and callous attitude toward us. Though I suffered injustice along with the rest of the boys and girls, I deserved my punishment at times.

In my Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School) memoir, I wrote about the time I vandalized a storage shed and coaxed some other boys to help me. We were justly punished for our rebellion in that instance.

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One sunlit evening, I became obsessed with the idea that those windows in the shed next to the pool were begging to be broken. I figured that, since some panes were already shattered, no one would notice a few more.

I outlined my idea to a few boys standing next to the pop machine, urging them to join me. "We'll never have a chance like this again," I urged. "Someone already broke a few windows in that shed so what would a few more matter? Come on, guys, let's smash a few more. It's an old building anyway."

My audience appeared strangely reluctant, but they eventually gave in to my urging. We gathered handfuls of pebbles and started hurling. The windows shattered delightfully. We were happily breaking them when Jimmy ran toward us. "I'm telling on you guys," he threatened. We implored him not to but he refused to listen, turned, and sprinted toward the dorm. Since we were already in trouble, we threw one last volley of rocks.

Mrs. Parker strode out of the dorm full of wrath. "You boys are going to bed right after supper for six weeks," she announced. "You'll get no candy either." Our hearts crashed to the ground. Six weeks seemed such a long time and to be with out candy was pure torture. The penalty impacted me so thoroughly that I felt intense dread whenever I walked passed that shed on the way to and from the Dining Hall.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

CHILDREN MUST BE TAUGHT HOW TO DEAL WITH EMERGENCIES.

Did somebody teach you how to dial 9-1-1 when you were young? During my childhood, I had a powerful phobia of reporting dangerous situations lest some adult blame me for causing it. Instead of Mom calmly dealing with a problem, such as the evening I broke my left arm, she panicked. Consequently, I felt as if I lived between a rock of offending irrational grown-ups and the hard place of being blamed for not reporting an emergency.

In Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I wrote about the time I witnessed an act of vandalism. As nobody trained me to calmly report it to the authorities, this is what happened.

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Charlie was not the only person who made my life miserable that month. I went down to the new swings to play after supper. While listening to my radio, I swung and enjoyed being away from the other boys. Suddenly, an object whizzed past me. I thought I imagined it until one of the school windows shattered. Somebody was hiding in the bushes outside the fence.

"Who's there?" I called as I stopped swinging. Nobody replied but I thought I heard movement among the trees. I became frightened and hurried back to the dorm.

Mrs. Corrigan and Mr. Thynne questioned me concerning the incident in the principal's office the next morning. "A street lamp and several school windows were broken last night and you were there. Why didn't you report this to us immediately?" my supervisor demanded.

"I was afraid I'd get in trouble," I lamely answered.

"Next time there's something like that happening in the school grounds, report it to a supervisor," Mrs. Corrigan advised.

The two adults released me with a warning and, to my immense relief, I received no punishment.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.