THE POWER OF CORRECTION: A LESSON THAT CHANGED BOLA.
Published on HivePostify by @thereeyorfamily · Sat Aug 22 2026
Oh! Caleb. I have just thought about the use of prepositions in writing. We are accustomed to conform to, indifferent to, and many more. Why are you still making these mistakes in the previous assignment despite repeating the examples in the assignment?
Actually, Caleb was a funny boy whom others made jest of or complained about. Whenever he missed a question on the board, a group of boys whom I perceived as bullies would begin to make jest of him. These kids know that I detest anything related to bullying. I caution them against such in all my classes.
Bola and his group would always look for the mistakes of others and make them a subject of discussion or mockery.
On this blessed day, Caleb, as usual, asked his funny questions. "Educator, educator, what about different to?" I smiled. "Different to is not the right preposition to use."
No sooner had I said that than the bully, Bola, began to laugh.
"Bola, stand up! Why is that the subject of your mockery? What is the subject of you and your group's hullabaloo? Don't tell me that you are laughing at his mistake. Stand up till the end of the class. This should serve as a lesson to you all."
"Caleb! You can use from. For instance, 'He is different from his dad.'"
Oh! I continued speaking, as if Caleb was not in the class. "Abide by?" Hmm! Again, Bola shouted, "Educator said that we are meant to use abide with."
I sighed and said to Bola, "Because Caleb has been getting it wrong doesn't mean that he is all wrong. He is right here."
Immediately, the sad Caleb gave a gentle smile. "Thanks, educator." I smiled back. That smile was like a bond.
However, Caleb asked another question on that day and he was like, "What about aim to be the best?"
Hmm! I thought. Aim is usually followed by at. You should say "aim at getting there." I said to him, "Use aim at when followed by a noun or an -ing verb to show a target or focus. Use aim to when followed by a base verb (infinitive) to state a direct plan or goal. You are a genius." Caleb smiled once more.
This tells us why the correct use of prepositions matters.
After the class, I gave them a lot of examples and class work. I marked everyone's notes, and they did fairly well, except for a few boys who didn't do well. I told them that they should not give up.
At night, one of the parents called me. I checked the time—it was 9 pm. I didn't want to pick up, but I ended up doing so, probably because it was an emergency. After picking the call, I could hear the deep voice of a parent: "This is Mr. Olaitan, father of Olaitan Bola."
"Oh! Good evening, sir." Underground, I could hear the voice of someone crying! "Sir, did Bola score 15 out of 20 in the class work you gave him?"
Hmm! I remembered that he scored 5 out of 20. His father had already scolded him, and now he wanted to confirm that before intensifying his disciplinary action. Immediately, I said to him, "Sir, we can discuss this tomorrow." I did that so that he wouldn't discipline him to the extreme.
He said to me, "How would he get something that I know is clearly wrong? This means you don't know your job."
"No, sir, I do..." I immediately told him that he scored 5 out of 20. Truly, I didn't want the father to discipline him beyond a normal threshold because he was quick to anger. Immediately the father heard the truth from me, he said, "So Bola has intentionally added a 1 to the front of 5 to make it 15? Ha! I will remove this bad character out of you." This was what I heard before he hung up.
The following day, Bola was summoned again by the principal. He couldn't defend himself with any more lies. He was punished by one of the teachers who do not tolerate indiscipline.
Bola learned his lesson as his crimes were exposed to the whole school. This is something most students detest. They prefer private correction rather than deliberate exposure to the general public. This action was at the suggestion of the school principal as a way to prevent similar occurrences in the future. I tried to intervene, but it had the backing of Bola's dad.
Bola jumped from the frying pan into the fire. That week was not favourable to him, and throughout his stay, Bola never lied nor did any harm. I advised him, and I helped him to be himself again. Recently, I saw him with his family. Bola is now an engineer.
Bye!
Image is from chatgtp.
Tags: #hive-170798#creativenonfiction#theinkwellprompt#theinkwell#ecency