I was watching the news and I saw that one of the cute blonde news anchors is coming forward with her dark secret:
"Believe it or not, I was bullied."
Well, honey, join the club.
I am not saying that bullying is no big deal, not a problem.
I am just saying it isn't *new*.
When I was a kid, I had to ride a bus to school. There were these girls that would wait until I was exiting the bus and rush to push me down.
This is when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I was a small child, and not only were these girls in superior numbers, they each also had a size advantage.
The bus driver knew about it; she basically told my mom there was nothing she could do about it.
Apparently, the grown-ups- those in power- felt I should stop whining and just suck it up.
Then, and now, if I retaliated, *I* would have gotten the worst of it: either beaten up by the girls AND/OR written up at school for fighting.
Interesting note: when I told my mom we were going to homeschool our kids, one of her worries is that my kids wouldn't be exposed to bullies and so wouldn't learn how to toughen up-
If anything, that would have been a further argument for homeschooling, in my book!
I think if you ignore situations where the less powerful are preyed upon by the bigger and stronger, you are tacitly agreeing that "might makes right."
I think if you ignore your child's situation in these cases, you are not teaching them to "toughen up" you are teaching them that the "authorities" don't care.
(I'm totally over it, though. TOTALLY. )
1 comment:
In school, it's worse, I'm sure - as in situations like you describe: grown-ups knew. Nothing was done. And you had to go every day.
In any situation, though, having advocates who know AND DO SOMETHING is what makes the difference. Even without going to school every day, I was bullied. But when you and the adults in my life knew, you acted. You helped me act. Advocates help, often more than they know.
Post a Comment