My sons had to take a survey at their Friday school (a supplement to their home schooling) about bullying and whether they have ever experienced it. My oldest said that someone once cut in line in front of him at church. The boy who cut said that he deserved to be in front because he was taller. I'm not sure that was bullying as much as just an obnoxious kid who wanted to be first. My middle son said that he was bullied by his friend once. I'm not sure he understands what bullying is. As my wife and I talked about it this weekend, I shared a traumatic bullying experience that I once endured. When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I was leaving school to walk to my Dad's T-Shirt shop that was a block or two away. As I left the school grounds, three 6th graders surrounded me and started to give me a hard time. I remember that I had a new lunch pale with a glass lined thermos that kept my drinks cold all day. I loved that thermos. I hated drinking warm milk, soda, or juice...so this thermos was a God-send. At one point, the 6th graders took my lunch pale and threw it on the ground. They pushed me around a little bit and then proceeded to kick my lunch pale down the street like they were playing some demented version of soccer. Eventually, they left me alone. I was already crying because they had pushed me around, but I lost it when I picked up my lunch pale and realized that the glass lining of my thermos was shattered. No more cold drinks!!! They broke my pride and joy. I knew enough about money to realize that my parents didn't have enough of it to replace my thermos. So, I'd have to go back to warm drinks. I cried all the way back to my Dad's T-Shirt shop and cried hysterically when I related the sad story to my Mom and Dad. I don't remember much after that. I'm sure my Mom tried to console me. I'm sure my Dad said something about facing my fears and confronting the bullies. You know, the normal stuff that parents respond with after the kids go through some sort of bullying experience. The whole experience was traumatic enough for me to remember it all these years later. I'm still hurt. It was a good thermos and those kids were just being obnoxious. If only they knew how much that thermos meant to me. Did I mention that it was glass lined? Insulated to keep the cold stuff cold? Well, it was a good thermos. I only got a couple of days with it before it was murdered by those bullies. I'll never forget it.
5 comments:
This almost makes me want to go out and buy you another thermos, although it will never erase the trauma of being bullied.
I had a bullying experience that involved my teacher. A nun at St. Philomena's who would make fun of me in front of the class when I couldn't come up with the right multiplication answer when we did quick drills up and down each row. She made me feel stupid and helpless because I could not confront her as a teacher and she knew it. A teacher should never bully a student in front of their peers. I did terrible in Math for the rest of my life until I became an adult because of her.
Wow... a song just popped into my head.... I'm picking out a thermos for you. No ordinary thermos will do... Ha ha ha ha!
I once had a sixth grader pick me up on the playground and put his hand up my skirt into my panties. I bit him on the wrist hard enough to draw blood. I got sent home (maybe because I couldn't stop crying?) Mom didn't do anything. The next day, he followed Cindy and me home from school, chased me down, knocked me over and climbed on. I'll never know what he was going to do (thank God) because Cindy kicked him in exactly the right spot, so hard he may still be rolling on the ground there. He never came near me again. I'll bet he's in prison now, along with the boys who broke your thermos.
I forgot to mention that I was in the 2nd grade at the time.
:(. I am so sorry about your expereinces (all 3 of you). I remember being chased across the playground by a girl with a pair of scissors in third grade and had a simmilar experience as your friend Iw. The one that got me the worst though was when an old lady at church told me I couldn;t carry a tune in a bucket. I was about 7 or 8 years old then. I love to sing but now only sing in front of my husband, kids and very few of my closest friends. People just don't know what they do.
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