Back to School Bullies
Heads Up - above video is PG-13 video, and a song to the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman."
After spending years working with kids (and a few years as a kid myself) I felt the need to bring this up. Nobody makes it through childhood without hearing some cruel things along the way, and unfortunately some of those words stick for a lifetime.
One thing about bullying I learned while working with kids is that most parents had no idea their kid was bullying, or on the receiving end of bullying.
It seems the movie version of one angry kid, who wears a leather jacket, and smokes cigarettes he stole from the store, is not the real bully profile. She can be wearing braids, and a princess t-shirt, and be the most vicious kindergartner on the playground.
Kids are relentlessly teaming up, ganging up, and pulling the personality right out of other kids. The days of doing a school assembly, and hanging up a couple posters to battle bullying is not working.
We have so many conversations with other adults about what sports our kids are in, and how they are doing in school, but what about some of the stress they carry? Lots of kids have so much anxiety about summer break ending, and returning to an environment where they will be picked apart for being themselves.
What a sad way to have to live.
In my time working with kids, the times I had to inform adults their kid was a bully, the majority of the time the parents had no idea.
As parents we worry so much about our kids status on grades, and how they match up athletically. I can't think of many more important conversations to have with our kids, than how they treat other human beings.
I'm not sure when the pressures of performance, started to outweigh compassion, and empathy.
Maybe its always been this way.
Maybe its time for a change.
I would encourage you throughout the year to check in on your kids and see how they are treating other kids, and how other kids are treating them.
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