At the end of June, the International Boys’ Schools Coalition had their annual meeting. It’s always a pleasure to be with a large group of people whose focus is on educating boys, especially since those schools are both state and independent schools, and they are from all over the world. Attendees came from the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Bermuda, Mexico, and Italy. This year’s edition was headlined as Brother to Brother: Looking In, Reaching Out – the sessions were wonderful, highlighting best educational practices which result in students who are engaged and successful in school.
This year, thirty-five young men from the schools came together to talk with each other about their issues in school. At the end of the conference they shared with the attendees their impressions about their own schools and about the other boys that they met. It was truly amazing to see those fine young men standing in front of 500+ adults, easily discussing what they liked and didn’t like about their education.
The final session was presented by a young man named Doc Hendley. Doc introduced himself as the unsuccessful member of a very successful family. He shared his story, saying he was working as a bartender in North Carolina when he got fascinated by the idea that the single largest reason for death around the world was due to lack of water, or bad water. He put a container on his bar and began to collect money to help others.
He and the band he played in held charity concerts and eventually he had collected $10,000, but didn’t know what to do with it. So he found a charity that was interested in water issues and he went to see the man who ran it. He asked Doc if he just wanted to donate the money or did he want to do something about it.
He went to the Sudan and helped build wells, fix pumps, and supply water to people in camps.When his money ran out, he came home with no more idea about what he wanted to do. He met a girl, who became his wife, who asked him if he was finished helping people. He wasn’t, and the long and short of it is that he now runs a very successful charity that helps people around the world get clean water. The young man who was the unsuccessful member of his family, who almost failed high school, and quit university several times, is now the founder of a group that helps people around the world. He just needed focus and a way to use his considerable energy.
What’s my point? Doc’s story proves that you shouldn’t decide that you are a failure too soon. Many boys become successes later in life because they grow up a bit later than their peers. Don’t ever give up on a boy before he becomes a man – and probably not even then.