There have been so many stories in the news lately about kids being bullied at school, online, and everywhere in between. You hear about it on the evening news. You might read about it in your local paper. You might even hear it from your own child's mouth that he or she is being bullied. It is heartbreaking. Trust me, I know! Children have been allowed to bully each other since the dawn of time. For some reason, it has been accepted in society that if someone is different in any way, you let them know in whatever means you feel best.
In national news, we were introduced to Tyler Clementi, Zach Harrington, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase, Billy Lucas and Cody J. Barker. Each one of these eight boys is someone’s son, someone’s friend, someone’s true love, someone’s brother. But unfortunately, they were each someone’s target. They were bullied because of their sexual orientation. They each took their own life because they couldn’t take the abuse anymore.
In my little town, a high school student was arrested because two of his classmates reported that he had threatened to bring a gun to school. Come to find out, they had been bullying him and made it up. Their abuse was an on going problem for months. They called him horrible names because of his interracial relationship (he is white and his girlfriend is black). They brought his sexuality into question. They attacked him with their words in every way they could. When they realized that he was finally going to put an end to it and tell the school authorities, they told this horrible lie. You can read the whole story HERE.
My seven-year-old daughter has been the target of some mean kids at school. She has been teased because we do not go to church. SERIOUSLY?! Yes, seriously. It’s not that we don’t believe. We just haven’t found a church in the area we feel we can call home. But a little boy asked her what church she went to and when she said she doesn’t go to church, he announced it to the whole class! She was in tears when I picked her up that day. She has also been the target of a few “mean girls in training”. Their favorite game is “I’m not your friend today”. Little punks! My sweet girl wants nothing more than to be liked by everyone. She will do what she thinks will make them like her. This is something her Dad and I are nipping in the bud real quick! These are not the only problems we have had with kids picking on her. It started last year. Most of the time, teachers brush it under the rug. She has even been told by a teacher to “deal with it.” I wonder what would happen if she “dealt with it” like a normal child. The latest thing kids are playing is “Vampire Tag” at recess. Come on, people. Where are your elementary kids learning this stuff? We have decided that home schooling is going to be the best option for her. Not every parent has this option. We hope that you will pull from every available resource if your child is being bullied. My daughter’s principal took the approach that since there were no physical marks there was no bullying. Time to wake up. Here’s to the dawn of a new day in at east one child’s life. MINE!
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 12:05PM 
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