Police Officer Lies On the Floor To Comfort a Little Boy Having A 'Bad Day'

When she saw a little boy struggling, this police officer literally got down to his level

An Indiana police officer is teaching the world a lesson in empathy and compassion for her kind response when she saw a little boy who was having a bad day. Last Monday, Precious Cornner-Jones attended a “hive-five rally” at Indianapolis Public School 88 – an event coordinated by her pastor where members of the community give high-fives to students walking into the school. While Cornner-Jones was high-fiving students and generally making everyone’s day better, she noticed a little boy who was clearly in need of more than a high five.

“This little fella was having a rough morning and fell out on the floor,” Cornner-Jones wrote in a Facebook post. “I saw his mother step back and look.” While the boy lay on the ground, his mom told Cornner-Jones that this is how he’s expressing himself lately. Little dude, we feel you. Haven’t we all wanted to collapse in a heap on the floor from time to time? I know I have.

But instead of giving the boy’s mom the side-eye or offering condescending advice or giving the ubiquitous and unhelpful “maybe he’s tired” comment, like we parents are so used to hearing, Cornner-Jones tried something different.

“I decided to get on his level and talk to him,” Cornner-Jones wrote. “He started to cry so I wiped his tears and told him it will be ok.” Take note, y’all, this is how you practice empathy. This is how we take care of each other.

“As an adult sometimes all we want is one person to stop, get on our level and maybe wipe our tears,” Cornner-Jones wrote. “These children are entitled to bad days just as us, so give them that moment to bring it together.”

According to ABC News, Cornner-Jones – who is a mother to two young boys, ages 3 and 5, and a 17-year-old daughter – said she never did find out why the boys was upset, but his mother thanked her several times, and after she walked the boy to his classroom, and the two shared a hug.

“I think people lose sight that these kids are human too,” Cornner-Jones told ABC News. “They have bad days. We can’t expect them to be little robots and have them do exactly what we say.”

Amen, Ms. Cornner-Jones. A-freaking-men.

None of us are robots: not kids and not adults. We are humans, with feelings and bad days, and sometimes we collapse on the floor (literally or figuratively) and just need someone to get on our level, look us in the eye, and tell us it’ll be okay. We don’t need the lectures or side-eyes or comments about how we should be doing this or we should be doing that. We just a little compassion and empathy.

And a high-five couldn’t hurt either.