Rules, some of them we like, others, not so much. But our friend Tanveer, was obsessed with rules and he loved to make sure everyone followed them.

 

Ever since he was a baby, Tanveer was very careful about not making mistakes or disappointing the adults in his life. Tanveer loved being known as “the good kid”. Whenever his cousins came over, all of the aunties and uncles would ask them, “why aren’t you more like Tanveer? Tanveer is such a good boy”.

Tanveer kept his room clean, he helped his dad with the dishes, he only got A’s on his report card - he was the perfect kid (whatever that means). But there was one thing about Tanveer. One teeny tiny thing that sometimes got in the way of making (and keeping) a friend.

 

Ready for it?

Tanveer was a tattle tale!

He was always on the lookout for anyone breaking the rules. He even kept a little notepad and a clicky pen to write down small details… just in case the grownups asked. His classmates didn't really like him very much, but Tanveer didn't care. He believed that following the rules was the most important thing in the world, and he was proud of himself for being the best rule-follower in the class. He even made a pin that he wore on his shirt everyday!

One afternoon, Tanveer noticed that his classmate, Louisa, had a set of pencil crayons that he had never seen before. She was putting them in her backpack before lunch.

“Hmm, interesting”, he thought to himself.

These pencil crayons were special, they had all different tones of the basic colours. The package opened and closed like a treasure chest. He wondered how she got these.

Did she steal them from the teacher? He’d only seen these fancy pencil crayons on Ms. Cliffside’s desk. So, he put two and two together, wrote down all of his evidence and decided to do what he did best - tattle on Louisa.

At first he thought about blurting it out, but he didn’t want to risk Louisa making up a lie. He figured it’d be best to keep it on the low, until Lousia went to the cafeteria.

When all of his classmates left the room, Tanveer slowly walked up to his teacher dragging his finger along the empty desks inspecting for dust and boogers. Once he reached the last desk, he peered at his finger; no dust, no boogers. “Good job”, he said.
 

"Ms. Cliffside, I’d like to bring something to your attention"

“What is it this time, Tanveer?”, asked Ms. Cliffside, a little annoyed.

“I have reason to believe that Louisa stole pencil crayons from your desk. I saw her put them in her backpack. I can go get her backpack if you want”, Tanveer replied.

Ms. Cliffside opened her desk drawer and showed Tanveer that her pencil crayons weren’t missing. They were in her drawer, safe as can be.

“Hmmm, maybe Lousia stole them from another teacher. I’ve never seen a kid with those pencil crayons before. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this”, said Tanveer.

“Tanveer, I don’t think that Louisa stole the pencil crayons. Maybe her parents bought them for her. Either way, accusing someone of stealing is a serious matter. I know you like to follow the rules, but sometimes it’s important to ask questions and think about other people's feelings.”, replied Ms. Cliffside.

Tanveer felt embarrassed. He had made a mistake, accusing Louisa of something she hadn't done. He realized that he had been so focused on following the rules that he didn’t stop to think about whether or not he was doing the right thing.
He felt grateful for Ms. Cliffside’s advice.

 

From that day forward, Tanveer decided to be more thoughtful about his actions. He still believed in following the rules, but he also realized that he didn’t have to tattle on every little thing. He learned that being a kind person was more important than being the best rule-follower in the class.

Questions:

1. What could Tanveer have done differently when he first suspected that Louisa stole the pencil crayons?

2. What does being a kind person mean to you?

3. Early in the story, Tanveer's aunties and uncles asked his cousins why they weren’t more like Tanveer. Do you think that Tanveer feels pressure to be “the perfect kid”? Do you ever feel like that?