It’s hard to explain this to a child, but it’s worth trying.

“Just because a dozen kids your age don’t appreciate your gift doesn’t mean that your gift isn’t valuable.”

It’s tragic to think how many young dreamers and creative spirits are stifled — all because a cohort of adolescents chose judgement over curiosity, teasing over encouragement.

It’s baked into so many parts of our culture: compliance is ideal, fitting in is a priority, popular is valuable, different is weird.

That one person’s genius — which could perhaps serve the world greatly — might be silenced because of the random sample-set of same-age critics that happen to live in the neighborhood or sit in nearby classroom desks?

I shudder to think that some of the the great change-makers of our future might be questioning their own worth — at this very moment — all because of the critical voices of juvenile gatekeepers.

We must work to fix this.