Hey All!!!
Late last week I found out some really horrifying news from my sister. She told me my niece - my sweet, always helpful, ever loving niece - has been hanging around with the wrong crowd in her after-school program and they've been mean to other kids. When I found this out, it broke my heart (almost as much as her telling me that she wasn't the biggest fan of reading, but I digress).
As someone who's vertically challenged, I spent a large part of my middle school, and some part of my high school, years being picked on. It was a difficult time, and one I would never want to inflict on anyone else. I was so upset when I first heard this news that I didn't know what to do.
After throwing out all of my ideas on strict punishments ("No birthday party for you!"), I decided that maybe the best way to handle this is to build a bit more empathy in my niece. So I'm on the lookout for ways to show her what it's like to be on the other side of bullying, and to encourage her to use her size (she's bigger than most of the kids her age) to protect others and not the other way around. I remember that there's a documentary on bullying in America, so I'm going to pull that out, and try to find a few children's books on the subject. Any suggestion y'all might have are more than welcomed.
I just want to show her that J.K. Rowling really did have it right in Harry Potter, when Dumbledore stated that, "...sometimes you have to choose between what is right, and what is easy."
Happy reading and writing!!!
Oh no! I hope you get her to the other side soon. I was bigger than lots of kids in grade school, but since my brother picked on me a lot, I tried to be a protector. Maybe if she befriends someone smaller, she'll see how great that can feel.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great suggestion, Barbara! I might not be able to manipulate pairing her with someone, but I can definitely facilitate the conversation on the importance of being a protector!
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