Being bullied

The last month or so an incident from my elementary school years has been on my mind. Why? I don't know of a specific reason other than telling someone about growing up.

I went to a private school from second through ninth grade. We all wore uniforms. The same plaid jumper with the same white shirt and blue knee socks. EVERYDAY!!!! When it was cool we wore a blue cardigan with a patch on the left pocket. When people talk about children wearing uniforms cause it puts them on the same playing field, let me tell you: IT'S A LIE!!! Kids will find something to pick on. I was teased because my shoes weren't name brand and because my folders weren't Mead but store brand.

My father was a postman and he worked at a gas station at night. He worked two full time jobs for nine years so I could go to private school. I am very thankful for the education that he provided me but being an adult I would have rather had my dad.

One of my friend's father's was the Operations Manager for the local Pepsi bottler. Another dad was the manager of a high end hotel.

In Little Rock the further out west you are the more expensive the houses are. Even though I haven't lived in Little Rock for seventeen years I can you exactly were the high dollar houses are and they keep going out further west. All that to say this- I lived in East Little Rock. Yep.

I would love to say that we didn't know we were poor but all my classmates confirmed this. Daily.

So the incident that has been on my mind. When I was in forth or fifth grade we were told to write a story. You know the kind were you put it up in the back of the room were everyone can read it. Right before a parents thing so they could see our best work.

One boy in my class wrote about aliens that were attacking Earth. They were all named "Amanda" who talked through their pug shaped noses. (I'm pretty sure it said they were all fat and ugly too.) It made me cry but my teacher put that story up with all the other ones. Kid never got in trouble for it. Even now 35 years later I can't for the life of me figure out why. I already had problems fitting in with the other kids, I had no self confidence, I was not the brightest crayon in the box. (Still not the brightest crayon in the box, but I can laugh about it now.) I was an annoying kid, I must have been the kid that the teacher loved to use her red pen on. I wasn't given any slack. If I remember correctly, same teacher accused me of cheating off the guy in front of me because we both had the same wrong answer on a test she didn't believe me when I said I didn't cheat and never asked the kid in front of me even though we passed our papers forward. (That was a run on sentence)

Why is it bothering me now? Bullying is such a hot button issue now. ALL bully's need to be punished. It has got to be stopped. I work with kids. I love kids, all kids. My favorite are the ones who go against the grain. They are brave enough to do what they want and not what their peers want.

I have a habit of teasing people. It's a way to show people that I like them. I call people "Loser" all the time. It is never meant to harm anybody but this past summer I learned that regardless of my good intentions it does bother people. I am much more sensitive to what I say to children now. (Adults should know when others are teasing and not take themselves so seriously) I try to be more positive toward them now. I have tried to cut out calling people loser now. I don't want a child I know remember me as the person who bullied them 35 years ago.