A young high school student, Emily Sachs, wrote--very well--of the pain kids inflict with thoughtless, even vicious, "teasing" of their peers. But her April 19 letter in Voice of the people showed something that can be even more important to her. And to many of us.

Her letter displayed high skill in eloquent exposition. It displayed a writing talent far, far beyond that of most adults. And that talent is an important one. It will allow her--indeed, it has already allowed her--to communicate and interact with a stunning array of others. She's becoming capable of persuasively relating with numbers of people, most of whom she'll never meet. That's power.

And the tone of her letter suggests she'll use that power well and thoughtfully.

None of this can, of course, make up for the pain inflicted on her. But certainly it's one happy outcome.

And, while she seems too wise to hunger for vengeance, there could be no finer revenge on her heedless persecutors than that the aloneness they imposed on her helped to hone such a gift.

As she says, "taunts and harassment can kill the soul." But they haven't, it appears, killed hers. Likely they've just toughened it. With such a soul in our midst, they've generated a benefit not only to Emily but to us all.

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