Thoughts on Bullying

WARNING:  THIS BLOG MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTING.  Today, there was another story on television about a school shooting as a result of bullying.  Bullying is getting a lot of attention in schools, the press, etc, but this old woman has a different concern.  I was talking to my husband today, and we both remember being made fun of.  He was short, had a big nose, etc.  I was the skinniest kid in school, with a long neck and big nose, so you can imagine the comments I got.  I was called turkey neck, and kids would do the gobble, gobble as I walked down the hallway.  Wasn't a fun time for me.  But guess what?  I never felt bullied. I also went to a very rough school, where girls fought a lot.  I mean, literal fighting, with nails, pulling hair, biting, etc.  It was great entertainment for the boys.  So there was also the fear of physical hurt, but I still did not consider it bullying.

See, here is my concern.  These kids who feel like they are being bullied, and that the answer is getting a gun and shooting people, are almost being excused for their actions.  Because they were bullied.  Schools are putting in programs to stop bullying, when instead, they should be teaching our kids to be tougher.  It's a hard life out there, folks!  We have tried to tell our grandson that bullying, or just having the guys make fun of you, will not stop in high school.  I work for a large manufacturing plant, and you should see the shenanigans that are pulled out there in the plant!  This is part of life, and all kids need to learn how to deal with it.  As parents, we can help them, by encouraging them, but we should also be teaching them that violence is NOT the answer.  In the form of fists, guns, whatever. You can only feel bullied if deep down, you agree with the bully.

Let's teach our kids they are valuable, and if they hear kids in school say otherwise, it's up to them to believe them.  If they don't believe them, then they are not being bullied.  All that talk is just babble that can roll right off their back.

If there is a problem with bullies in your school, I fear the fault is ours, as parents, schools, and churches.  Why does the kid bully?  Because he or she is looking for a way to make themselves feel better.  And that is because their parents, schools, and churches didn't do their job.  The kid that is being bullied?  They also have a low self-esteem, and their parents, schools, and churches didn't do their job there either.  As parents and grandparents, let's step up and do our job!

Diversity-An original composition by 12 Year Old Hannah Haddock.

What is diversity?  Well, take my Volleyball Team.  Some can bump, some can serve, some can pass, and some can hit the ball hard some hit soft, but we all are on the same team and all can play Volleyball.

Now, if we all had that mindset, the world would be a better place.  Something I always tried to keep in mind when serving on the Women's Ministry Team, It doesn't matter who does God's work, as long as it gets done.  It may be done differently that I would have liked, but it still got done, and that's all that matters.  We were all on the same team, and that's what mattered.

Those that are successful stayed

I keep thinking about a movie I watched this weekend, about the real life of Laura Ingall Wilders, the author of "Little House On The Prairie". Her father was a bit of a wanderlust, and thought if he just went here, they would prosper, or if he just went there, things would be better. Finally, her Mom got fed up with it, and in an uncharateristic show of iron, told him this time she wasn't going. That the successful ones stayed. I've been thinking about that. How many times do we leave a job because we don't like the people, the boss, the pay? Maybe, if we had just waited, if we had stayed, things would have changed, or we would have changed. What about the marriage that is just too hard? Or the kids that didn't grow up like you thought they should, and you are fed up with them? Or the church that isn't meeting your expectations of what a church should be. Or the family member or friend who has let you down more times than you care to count. What if, even when things are hard, we were supposed to stay? Don't get me wrong. There are times we are most definitely to go. If you are not safe physically, emotionally, or spiritually, God will lead you out of the situation. But I think, most of the time, that going is the easiest answer, and we lose a wonderful opportunity to grow, if we had just stayed.