What is the story of the little boy and the rose and what does it mean?

The Little Boy and the Rose

The story of the little boy and the rose goes like this:

A little boy went to first grade. He listened while the teacher taught about Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, but when she told the class that Art was next, he became excited. The little boy had been drawing all sorts of things at home, and was actually very gifted and way past his years with his abilities.

The teacher said they were all going to draw a flower, but everyone would have to wait until all the papers were passed out before they started. Since he sat in the second row, he got his paper before the rest of the class and was so excited he forgot the teacher said to wait. He got out his crayons and began drawing. The little boy was was well on his way to drawing a gorgeous rose in full bloom on a long stem when the teacher looked over and saw that he was not following her instructions.

This particular teacher did not tolerate children not following instructions. She walked over to the little boy and without even looking at his drawing, picked it up, gave him a blank piece of paper, and told him to wait for the rest of the class. As she passed the trash can, she threw the drawing in. The little boy was crushed and honestly did not understand why the teacher threw away his drawing or, for that matter, what he did wrong at all.

The teacher then went to the chalkboard and step-by-step walked the class through drawing a simple, child-like flower. For each step, she told them what color to use and how to draw the line. When they were done, the teacher picked up the drawings and hung them on the wall. The little boy looked at each one and could barely tell his apart from the others.

Never again did the little boy draw a gorgeous rose, or anything else original for that matter. He had learned well to follow the teacher's instructions and to do exactly what the teacher did.

It has been a long time since I read this story, and I am sure it is not told exactly as the original, but the meaning is the same. In fact, it has several meanings:

It is extremely easy for an adult to completely quelch the creativity of a child.

A child is an individual and should be related to as one, not placed like a head of cattle into a herd and expected to do and perform as every other child.

Teachers and parents alike need to pay attention to and respect the unique talents of each child under their care so they can help them advance those unique abilities and talents.

A child is a valuable gift, with unique talents, but it only takes one bad experience that the child will remember the rest of his life to discourage a child from using those talents.

Perhaps someone else could add some more lessons we can learn from this story.

First answer by ID81808264. Last edit by Deb. Contributor trust: 1013 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 49 [recommend question]