Today I am going to rant for a minute or twelve about something totally off - topic. Most of you know I work at a middle school. Most of us can recall or vaguely recall middle school or junior high-that awful time when your face breaks out like a pizza parlor, glasses and braces suddenly enhance that awesome look and deodorant and other items become necessary for survival. Life during this time, frankly, sucks. I have blocked out this time in my life, mainly because I was a major nerd and it was not a pleasant time for me.
So today at work, I helped investigate a bullying incident. This was full-fledged bullying at its worst. This poor child (a boy as sweet as can be) has been harassed repeatedly, called names and teased pretty much everyday for at least the last 3 weeks that we could determine, although I venture to say it has lasted much longer than that. What are the kids doing? Calling the boy a "Del Fuego"...now, I can understand a bit of Spanish so the translation is From Fire. However, the person who started the name calling (which spread like wild fire) "made it up" and his translation was "hippo". We interrogated, oops, I mean interviewed, a dozen kids who all casually called this child the name and teased him about it. I am ROYALLY DISGUSTED with them. Who gave them the right to tear down this other child? Who told them it was okay to do this? So it is a stupid name....that name has caused indeterminant damage to the child. He went from all A's and B's to mainly F's, hates school, hates himself and god only knows what else. His mom is horrified, as she should be.
Lesson learned: the stuff kids said to me that hurt my feelings, I still carry with me today. I can recall vividly each barb that came my way and how it made me feel. This must stop.
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