“Dad, today a backbencher wanted to see my class work but I didn’t show him,” Hamza disclosed to his father over dinner.

“Why didn’t you show him?” asked Mr Ali.

“Because he would have copied it and then would have taken all the credit of my hard work,” Hamza explained.

“Son, did you know how I and Dr Hammad became friends?

Hamza had no idea, so he shook his head.

“Well, Dr Hammad was a backbencher. So….”

“Dr Hammad, the famous neurologist, was a backbencher?” interrupted Hamza.

“Yes, he was,” continued his father, “So one day while we were in third grade, I went to Hammad, who had a different friend circle at that time, and told him that his science project, which was appreciated by many teachers, was unique and nicely made. He thanked me and then we continued playing with our friends.

If your classfellows have problems while doing their assignments, which is not a bad thing, it is your duty to help them if you can.

“Later, my friends who saw me talking to him, gave me an earful about it because, according to them, his influence would turn me just like him and they didn’t want to lose me. Their concern for me was genuine,” Mr Ali, reminisced.

“What does it mean ‘turn me like him’?” inquired Hamza who was listening to each and every word very carefully.

“He was not into studies at all, at that time. He never gave his homework on time and his grades were usually below average so my friends feared that if I became friendly him I would also fall behind in my studies and grades.

“Almost a week later, Hammad came to me and asked for some help in math for the upcoming math test. I apologised and said that I was busy.

“He responded politely by saying that he would ask someone else for help. I felt sorry for lying to him. So after giving much consideration to it, the next day I asked him if he still needed my help. He said yes and I gladly helped him.

“I began to help him during lunch breaks and after school. My friends were mad at me as I was spending more time with him than playing with them. But I ignored their comments. As a result, Hammad passed in math with good marks. That was how we became friends.

“Then I use to help him in other subjects as well and his grades gradually improved a lot. It turnout that all he wanted was little help and encouragement, not cheating or copying as we earlier thought, and I was happy to listen to my heart and help him.

“If I had not helped him, perhaps he would have used other ways like cheating and copying other’s work, to pass.”

Hamza was silent and a bit ashamed of what he had done.

His father continued, “Son, we always read about helping others and this also includes helping your friends or classfellows in their school work. If your class fellows have problems while doing their assignments, which is not a bad thing, then it is your duty to help them if you can. It doesn’t mean that you should show him your answer sheet in the exam or show them the answers of math problems. Just help them understand the concepts and how to do the problems to clear their confusion. This way you also get to polish your concepts and learn them better,” Mr Ali explained to his son.

“I feel sorry for not helping him, but I’ll do it now. Thank you dad, for telling me all this,” Hamza said thoughtfully.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 18th, 2017