Writer's Block: Anti-bullying month
I was bullied in junior high, but not to the extent of it affecting me academically or mentally. The girls were just downright mean, and I always wondered where they even heard some of the crap they would say.
I think I found my answer a few weeks ago from my seven-year-old grandson. He goes to a school that has only first thru third graders. He told his mom that he and two other little boys were playing ball at recess, and a boy in the third grade called them a faggot. He asked his mom what a " faggot" was. Instead of trying to explain the inappropriateness of this slang or name calling, she asked him what he said to the other child. He promptly replied," I told him I would rather be a faggot any day than be you." Then he asked her if he was in trouble, and she said, of course he wasn't that he was fine.
She asked me what I thought, and I told her that he handled it perfectly, and did not even know it. So, having said that, where do you think this eight-year-old heard this? Probably from an older sibling or his parent, and that is so sad. In a nutshell, bullying is learned from example, and more so than ever in a child this young. Bo yeah, I think a lot of bullying is done by a parent, and instilled in their child.
I think I found my answer a few weeks ago from my seven-year-old grandson. He goes to a school that has only first thru third graders. He told his mom that he and two other little boys were playing ball at recess, and a boy in the third grade called them a faggot. He asked his mom what a " faggot" was. Instead of trying to explain the inappropriateness of this slang or name calling, she asked him what he said to the other child. He promptly replied," I told him I would rather be a faggot any day than be you." Then he asked her if he was in trouble, and she said, of course he wasn't that he was fine.
She asked me what I thought, and I told her that he handled it perfectly, and did not even know it. So, having said that, where do you think this eight-year-old heard this? Probably from an older sibling or his parent, and that is so sad. In a nutshell, bullying is learned from example, and more so than ever in a child this young. Bo yeah, I think a lot of bullying is done by a parent, and instilled in their child.