In order to be successful, you have to believe that you can succeed and are worthy of success. Unfortunately, there are many people who are told growing up that a certain kind of success isn’t possible.

Or that there are limitations on the kind of success you can achieve or life you can live. Some sects of our society and media try their very best to diminish our self worth and prevent us from succeeding.

That’s why some parents work to instill self-worth in their children so that they are equipped to succeed when it’s time for them to go out into the world.

Once a child goes to school, parents lose a degree of control over what their child learns and accepts as true.

But some parents like to leave their children reminders of who they are, even when they are away from home.

Amanda Cox was overjoyed to learn that she had a student with a parent like this. She made this discovery when she came across one of the student’s pencils.

“Today I was running low on pencils so I asked all of my kids to pull out any of my pencils that they had in their desks. I had one student ask me if he could keep his pencils that his mom gave him for school. Of course, I said yes,” teacher Amanda Cox wrote on Facebook.

These weren’t just ordinary No. 2’s. There was something unique and empowering about these pencils.

That’s why the student was a little reluctant to get rid of these loved laced pencils at first.

But then he realized that he would much rather spread that love and share it with others.

“He then said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll give you a few so my classmates can have them too.’ I thought nothing of it and took the pencils that he handed me. When I was sharpening them, I noticed writing on a few of them,” she explained.

Cox didn’t understand why he was so attached to the pencils until she got a closer look.

“I then realized that my student’s mother took the time to write on his pencils. I asked him if he would mind showing me the rest of them. What I read melted my heart,” she explained.

Each pencil had a message like “You are phenomenal,” “Never give up,” “You can do this” written on them in red marker.

All of them were meant to show her son that he was loved, capable, and in control of his own destiny.

“This probably took his mom a few minutes to do yet it lit up his whole day at school,” Cox said.

“He wasn’t embarrassed that his mom wrote on his pencils. Thanks to his mom, he was reminded of his self worth and wanted to share the same feeling with his classmates.”

Cox fully understood the power that these seemingly simple messages had.

While society puts focus on children doing things they say are important, like taking tests and getting into certain higher education institutions, it seems rarer to see focus put on self-worth and belief.

As an educator, Cox understands that “society” has it backward and urges parents and teachers to teach children these things on their own.

“THESE are the things that we should be reminding our kids (both parents AND teachers),” she explained.

“Imagine the look on a child’s face when they are reminded that they are important, talented, loved, knowledgeable and so much more. Help them know that someone believes in them and is proud of them in everything they do.”

Cox finds it imperative to at least try to instill these values in our children.

Even when it isn’t certain that your message will stick.

“Even if you think it is cheesy or you don’t have enough time or that you will have little impact, remember that you may be the only one telling and reminding them these things and EVERY kid needs to know their value. This is why I teach,” she concluded.

See Cox’s original post below.

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By D.G. Sciortino

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D.G. is a contributing writer in Shareably. She's based in Connecticut and can be reached at [email protected].