Council challenges youth to start 'chain reaction of kindness'

Source: Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.mini storageOct. 04--Rachel Joy Scott was certain of two things: That she would die young, and that she would impact the world.Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, when two students killed 12 other students and one teacher before killing themselves.Hundreds of students from across the state sat in the Renaissance Hotel and Spa Montgomery Performing Arts Centre on Thursday and heard her story, and the 17-year-old's five challenges found in her writings: look for the best in others; dream big; choose positive influences; speak with kindness; and start your own chain reaction."About six weeks before Rachel was killed, she wrote a two-page essay for her fifth-period English class," said presenter Todd Lauderdale. "And she titled the essay, 'My Ethics, My Codes of Life.'"And in this essay, she challenges you and me to start what she calls a chain reaction of kindness and compassion."Lauderdale spoke at the 10th annual Alabama Youth Council, which was sponsored by the state Department of Education, in collaboration with the FOCUS Program, the state Department of Public Health, the Truman Pierce Institute-Auburn University School of Education, and the Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.Youth from across the state met in Montgomery to promote healthy behaviors among Alabama teens.This year's conference featured Rachel's Challenge from Littleton, Colo.Scott's dedication to kindness and compassion toward others left a legacy that spread rapidly through anecdotes and her own private writings.Her death led her family to found Rachel's Challenge, which has been presented in thousands of schools and communities and has touched more than 19 million students, educators and parents.Within the five challenges, Lauderdale said looking for the best in others means eliminating prejudice.We need to give people at least three chances before we would ever judge them, or put a label on them, Lauderdale rea迷你倉 from one of Scott's diaries.Dreaming big, he said, means writing goals. And choosing positive influences in your life -- Scott chose Anne Frank and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- is important because everyone is influenced by their surroundings."We need to choose positive influences in our lives," Lauderdale said. "And if you plant yourself in a negative environment surrounded by poor role models, it is only a matter of time before those affect you and, oftentimes, pull your life in the wrong direction."But if you put yourself in a good environment, surrounded by good role models, it's only a matter of time before those affect you and actually begin to encourage your life in the right direction."Speaking with kindness is Scott's fourth goal, and Lauderdale told the high school students that they don't want to underestimate the power of their words."You have the ability through your words to build somebody up or tear them down," he said. "You have the ability to bring more hurt into their lives or actually promote more healing in their lives just simply by the words that you speak to them."Not only was Rachel having a huge impact upon people who were getting to know her, but even those beginning to hear her story in the years after her death were impacted in a great way."The last challenge was to start a chain reaction."For a moment, I want you to think about the people that you love that are still in your lives," Lauderdale told the group. He challenged them to go to the people they were thinking of and tell them "how much you love them ... and why it is that they matter to you so much."For some of us, these are words ... that are difficult to say. But it is so important."Additional FactsFor information, and how to start a chain reaction.rachelschallenge.orgCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) Visit the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) at .montgomeryadvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉