Dreamstime
A heart-broken mom posted in a neighborhood group on Facebook this week about her son being teased and recorded during the lunch hour at a local high school. Almost immediately the love started pouring in through comments, likes, and loves. The individuals responsible have since been reprimanded, but what turned the disappointment and anger into happy tears was how the parents of the school-aged kids banded together to rally their teens to show the young man he is valued by his peers.
This is a sad-turned-happy situation, but bullying happens and can be so damaging. Whoever said “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words could never hurt me” must not have been bullied, definitely didn’t live in our era of technology, or could possibly block out the human tendency to feel. I could go on and on (and on) with statistics and share articles, but the truth is we all know this is happening in our children’s lives every day, and even all day now thanks to social media, whether it be as a victim or as a witness. I don’t know the secret to getting teens to open up and don’t believe there is one that would work for all. I pray my boys always tell me everything, but I know that is far-fetched.
I do know this, just about everyone has had instances in their lives that have brought them down by someone else’s words and/or actions. These aren’t always shared because they may diminish our sense of pride, but I think they are worth telling. I can recall vivid memories of being teased, talked about, and even MySpace-bullied. At 31 years old, it still stings when others misinterpret your intentions, but these perceptions of others don’t shape us, and sometimes we make the same mistake of misinterpreting the intentions of others — go figure. When you’re of school age, it is hard to grasp this idea that one day your thought process could be different. From a fellow insecure and very shy kid, I promise those feelings of insecurity shrink, and sometimes one’s self confidence does not appear until later in life!
I’ll end with this, and I hope it is shared with kids of all ages repeatedly: Look people in the eye, smile, and think before you speak because bringing others down is a waste of time. One of my favorite quotes is, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a difficult battle.”