First Amendment Essay Contest: Courage

By Ben Phelps
Floyd Central High School

A birth is supposed to be one of the happiest days for parents. It is supposed to be exhilarating, thrilling, and the start of a new chapter in their lives. But when my sister was born on Dec. 13, 1986, something wasn’t quite right. She had hydrocephalus, or water in ventricles in her brain. Little is known about this condition. No cause. No prevention. No cure. Just treatment, precaution, and prayer.

My sister’s development was a slow, grinding process. For a long time my parents never even knew if she was going to walk. Now she has what is commonly called mental retardation. She will never be able to drive, live alone, or be self-sufficient. She is almost able to buy alcohol legally yet still gets called a child in public. Her best friends are the people she meets with Special Olympics, the ones that don’t judge, criticize, or embarrass her.

Growing up was torture for her, especially high school. I remember when she would come home bawling because of what someone said to her. Kids were insensitive, unaware, or just mean, calling her names like “retard,” or worse. She cried often and sometimes didn’t even want to go back to school. Yet, despite all of this, she never let it get the best of her. She always went back to school, always went back to class, always got past her fear with a grin.

One day when I was dropping her off at work a creepy man walked past my car as she was getting out. “Hey baby,” he whistled at her with a wry smile. “What’s going on cutie?” I wanted to hurt this man, make him feel the pain and fear for one instant that he instilled in me with just a few words, make him understand all the prejudices and obstacles
she has had to overcome. Instead I sat there, as my sister turned to me and smiled. “See you after work,” she said, ignoring the man. I had fear and anger raging through my heart, but she was smiling, ignoring the stranger’s words.

My sister has taught me many lessons about what it means to be courageous. Without knowing it, she has shown me what true courage is, and I have been able apply that to all areas of my life, including journalism. She has taught me that courage means not fearing censorship, administrators, or teachers. It means doing what’s best for the greater good despite what it may cost me. It means pursuing a controversial story, asking a tough question, or printing a sensitive column.But simultaneously it also means understanding the responsibility that comes with the press and the First Amendment and the profound effect words can have. Courage is my willingness to hold myself to superior, professional standards when everyone else sees me as a teenager. Courage is getting up each morning knowing what obstacles lay ahead and attacking them with a vengeance and a relentless, positive attitude.

This, I believe.

Ben Phelps is a senior at Floyd Central High School and is co-editor in chief of the student newspaper, The Bagpiper. Phelps’ work has been recognized during the last two years by the Indiana High School Press Association at the annual convention, and he earned a Superior rating in news writing in the write-off competition at the 2006 JEA national convention. He plans to major in journalism at Indiana University or the University of Missouri.