Bullying and hateful words are a hot topic with me today... nothing happened, no one here at home was attacked with nasty words this week or even this month... but it has happened, it's nothing we haven't seen or heard unfortunately. It's just, again this morning, I caught a blip about it and it just lit my little fire.... I updated my status on FB and set off to the shower so I could get out of the house and get myself to town.... but I need to finish the more than blurb that has been brewing in my head....
One of my friends said "It is NOT ok however I think we need to be teaching our kids to be of strong character and to have a healthy sense of self worth so they aren't targets or bullies" With exception to the however part... I agree...
Children, teenagers and adults should be empowered with a strong character and self worth they should also be taught respect for each other, and when name calling or pushing around and singling out, occurs, the child(ren) who has been taught right from wrong should be able to stand against it without fear of punishment or repercussion... or worse... being bullied themselves, no however. Treat people how YOU want to be treated... how about this... how you want your child, your niece or nephew to be treated.
If you are among the small percentage of people in this world who have not been bullied or had someone you love bullied, then maybe you can't understand the passion behind why I feel so strongly about this. Perhaps you should open a newspaper or type "bullying statistics" into your favorite search engine... the results are heart breaking, and those are only the reported statistics. Or perhaps you have been bullied so much and you just don't want to admit it... because being bullied can be a very shameful event... this is another reason why we really need to pay attention to the things we say and how we say them.
Kids and adults everyday are calling each other things... :
- hey fat boy
- you look like a girl!
- faggot
- freak!
- giraffe! pig!
- was that a girl??? nah man... that's a guy... I think.....
- stupid, idiot, dumbass (etc...)
- you're so gay! (that was gay) etc
- whore! hooker!
- bitch (do you know that the c word yes THAT c word is used so commonly today that my 11 year old has asked me what it was!!?? perhaps I am a prude... but I'm really not)
And sometimes it becomes physical and there are slaps on the back of the head, or what I've heard called "Happy Slaps" ???! Whatever that's supposed to be.... kicking, punching, pushing, slapping... violence is violence and unacceptable regardless of the "I was just foolin' around" excuse that the perpetrator wants to excuse his/her behavior off to. I could rant and rave for pages about cyber-bullying and phone bullying, homophobic & text message bullying... we've seen the movies, read the papers, seen the NEWS REPORTS.... kids are committing suicide here and it's not just gay kids folks, it's YOUR kids.
Calling someone gay or saying that whatever they're involved in is gay, calling that kid on the bus a freak because he is singing to himself??..maybe you'd prefer he throw up on you? cause that might happen if he stops singing... saying that the little boy runs like a girl or that little girl is a tub o'lard... those words have lingering affects. Educate yourself, educate your CHILDREN, these same children who will be taking care of you when you are old and crippled and weak and can't take care of yourself... do you want that same child saying to you.... "Hurry your wrinkled ass you lazy worthless fart!" And maybe they are laughing when they say it... but, maybe you aren't.
OK, perhaps I'm done for a bit... thing is education starts at home... empowerment and self esteem are built from within and start at home, and if the at home isn't there, it starts with friends who support and sustain. Everyone has something positive to offer, and if the only thing you can see is negativity... go with that age old adage...'If you have nothing nice to say... say nothing'
