Don't Be Afraid To Ask Questions : a short story for kids by Alfred

 Once upon a time in a land very much like where you live right now there lived two energetic boys who lived in the same neighborhood and attended the same kindergarten. They’d been friends from the sand box but by the time kindergarten came along they had already begun to grow apart. Their names were Jeremy and Dozzy. They still interacted every now and then. There wasn’t any problem between them but they just both had a different circle of friends now.

Jeremy and Dozzy where in the same class. They were in their final grade of kindergarten and their final exams where coming up soon.

Jeremy and Dozzy used to like to politely raise their hands in class and ask a question anytime they didn’t understand something the teacher said. But now only Jeremy did it. Dozzy and his new friends looked at it as way too uncool. They looked at as meaning you’re not very smart – to them those who ask questions are the dumb kids so they looked down on those who asked the teacher questions in class and never themselves asked any questions themselves because of the fear that people would think they are stupid for asking questions.

Dozzy kept trying to convince Jeremy in secret to stop asking questions in class. He told him that if he continued he would stop talking to him. This was because Dozzy didn’t want to be seen chatting with someone his friends taught was a loser – or was dumb.

Jeremy told Dozzy that he would still keep asking questions so Dozzy should do whatever it is that he wants.

Dozzy started to ignore Jeremy.

At first Jeremy didn’t mind. He had made up his mind that he was doing something that was beneficial to him, so why would be stop?

But as time went by Jeremy missed the company of Dozzy. Everyone was buying into Doozy’s way of thinking regarding asking questions. Soon Jeremy noticed that other students started looking at him like he was dumb and the more Jeremy asked questions in class the more stupid he looked.

Jeremy finally broke he couldn’t take it anymore and he stopped asking questions in class. He could hear the Holy Spirit tell him not to give in but Jeremy still gave in anyway.

Soon Jeremy was looked upon as cool, and cool meant everything smart means and so much more in the eyes of the majority in the school.

The day before the final exams, Jeremy didn’t understand a certain concept a teacher was talking about in class and he wanted to ask a question to get a better understanding of the concept but he remembered the people around him. The last thing he needed was for them to think he was dumb all over again so Jeremy let it slide.

On the next day which was the day of the exam, it turned out that the concept that Jeremy choose not to ask a question about was the foundation of majority of the questions in the exam.

Since Jeremy didn’t understand the concept he couldn’t answer the questions so Jeremy failed the exam and had to repeat his final year of kindergarten.

Now you don’t have to tell him twice that asking questions when you don’t understand something doesn’t mean you are dumb. It’s not asking that is dumb. 

THE END