What are we teaching our children today that would cause them to treat another human being so cruelly? This kind of behavior must be stopped, at home, at school, in our community. And this isn't just about homosexual teens, kids tease for many different, senseless reasons.
Just yesterday my daughter was hanging out with some so-called-friends who told her some of the people she hangs out with are losers and asked why she would hang out with them. Then they asked her to choose who she would rather hang out with them, or the losers.
I'm proud of her for standing up for herself and her friends. She told them she would never choose between friends. And you know what? One of the kids, a boy spit in her face. She ended up kicking him in the balls, and normally I would not condone violence, but she got to the point of frustration with these kids harassing her, so I don't say I blame her.
Parents, teachers, and peers need to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves and help put a stop to bullying before it costs someone else their life.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has dedicated part of their website to help put an end to bullying, for kids and adults alike. Check it out to find out what you can do to help.
Good for your daughter for sticking to her guns. Girls are terrible about that 'you can't be friends with THEM and ME--pick' My daughter's 5th grade classroom was a nightmare--a couple bully-girls, a couple 'odd girls out'--really shows what your own kid is made of and how well you've done. My daughter didn't even particularly get along with the 'odd girls out' but stuck up for them anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt HAS been around forever--I read Lord of the Flies with each of my kids before they started middle school, and talked to them in no uncertain terms about the consequences of blindly following and treating people badly, especially in a group. Today though, I think between falling discipline (parents don't, schools CAN'T) and our messed up brains (the rant about hormones, preservatives, etc. increasing propensity for all those behavioral and brain disorders is for another day) that kids have less supervision and less impulse control--they aren't allowed to correct each other in the RIGHT way, so the kids who go about the WRONG way get away with horrible behavior.
Very sad, but you should be proud.
Yep. I am proud of her. She stuck up for her friends and herself. :D Good idea reading Lord of the Flies before middle school. Wish I'd thought of that.
ReplyDeleteYour daughter is a special girl and life will reward her for her actions. As far as bullying goes, I hate to sound like an old fogey cornball but I think we have shown our kids too much too soon. Too much violence at too young an age. I think they are not shocked by it anymore. I know, I know, I know, but that's what I think. That kid who spit in her face is in for trouble. That is the most demeaning thing you can do to someone, the little *&(&^(C^&($&##^!!!!
ReplyDeleteGood for your daughter, Megan! I am ashamed to say I didn't have her guts as a child, and am trying very hard to foster them in my own kids. As for where such hatefulness comes from, I look to the parent who pushed our coach around last week, only to turn around and hear his kids cursing the same coach out...
ReplyDeleteLet our kids see that kindness is sometimes the bravest move there is.