ANTI-BULLYING STARTS AT HOME

As my next TOMGIRLZ book will deal with the issues of childhood obesity and bullying, I have been talking to my elementary school aged daughter more about what kind of bullying she notices. She says she sees it everywhere and that girls can be particularly mean to other girls. However, the most detailed account she gave me was very surprising.

In very vivid detail she told me the story of what happened one morning at the bus stop. A 9 year old boy was waiting for the bus with his mother and elderly grandfather. The bus was arriving and apparently the grandfather was in the process of crossing the street. The boy ran across the street quickly to board the bus and when he saw his grandfather still moving slowly he yelled out, "Get out of the way you big idiot!"

Then the mother, who jumped in her car to leave after talking to some other moms at the bus stop, yelled at him too. She said, "Come on, I don't have all day!"

My daughter said she got a stomach ache and felt horrible for the grandfather all day. Of course she did. She lost her own great grandmother just a few short months ago and misses her very much. My children always had tremendous respect and love for her...every time she came to visit us my daughter would share her room with her and even cuddle up with her in bed.

The point of this story is that bullying stems from a disrespect for others and learning respect starts at home. The mother's own attitude towards the grandfather was of impatience and annoyance and she said nothing to correct her son for calling his grandfather a "big idiot." If they are treating the grandfather like this at home constantly, then they are actually bullying him and the son is learning this bullying behavior from his parents in his very own home.

I hope they will understand that their behavior will have to change...Florida's new anti-bully policy in schools makes parents accountable!

Read more about the passing of the anti-bullying policy at http://www.proudparenting.com/node/1919