Today we found out that our son told a girl in his class that she was, “fat and ugly”. He was not the only child who did this, a friend of his also said these unkind words, but what he did was wrong. Something you should know about our boy is that he is a sensitive soul. If we tell him he needs to work on his chewing at the dinner table his feelings are hurt, oftentimes there are tears; this is why it surprised me that he would have done something so hurtful to another child.
Our son’s teacher made him call my husband at work and tell him what he had said. Shannon said that he answered the phone to complete silence, sniffling, tears, and finally an admission of what he had done.
Our boy felt bad about what he had done, he cried, he couldn’t explain why he did what he did.... He was wrong. I am sure that he said what he did to be a part of whatever was going on with the other kids, I am certain that regret filled him the second after the words left his mouth, but he still said them. The words he said were hurtful and I know that if they had been uttered to his little sister he would have been angry.y husband asked him how he would feel if someone said things like that to his sister, silence. He asked what he would do if someone said hurtful words to his sister, silence.
I think about my sweet boy saying those words and I cannot believe it, but I also know how children can be so that is why I know it is true.
We made him write an apology note to the girl, he lost his PlayStation and Kindle for three weeks, and I told him he needed to write an apology to his teacher. He could not understand why I wanted him to do this, but she has a daughter and I felt that he needed to explain to her that from now on he would not act in that manner. He would act like the boy she expects him to be, he would stop others from saying hurtful things.
When our children leave our home we no longer have control over their actions and words, but hopefully the things we teach them will cause them to think about their actions and words. I know that this will be a hard lesson for my son, I know that years from now he will remember the day he said things that hurt a girl’s feelings, and I hope that what we did as parents will push him to stick up for others when they are being mistreated instead of joining in or standing idly on the side.
Bullying is repetitive behavior towards an individual that causes emotional or physical harm or distress, a few mean words are in no way bullying, but if parents do not take care of the issue when it’s just a few mean words, the potential is there for it to become repetitive behavior.
Words hurt.
Our boy felt bad about what he had done, he cried, he couldn’t explain why he did what he did.... He was wrong. I am sure that he said what he did to be a part of whatever was going on with the other kids, I am certain that regret filled him the second after the words left his mouth, but he still said them. The words he said were hurtful and I know that if they had been uttered to his little sister he would have been angry.y husband asked him how he would feel if someone said things like that to his sister, silence. He asked what he would do if someone said hurtful words to his sister, silence.
I think about my sweet boy saying those words and I cannot believe it, but I also know how children can be so that is why I know it is true.
We made him write an apology note to the girl, he lost his PlayStation and Kindle for three weeks, and I told him he needed to write an apology to his teacher. He could not understand why I wanted him to do this, but she has a daughter and I felt that he needed to explain to her that from now on he would not act in that manner. He would act like the boy she expects him to be, he would stop others from saying hurtful things.
When our children leave our home we no longer have control over their actions and words, but hopefully the things we teach them will cause them to think about their actions and words. I know that this will be a hard lesson for my son, I know that years from now he will remember the day he said things that hurt a girl’s feelings, and I hope that what we did as parents will push him to stick up for others when they are being mistreated instead of joining in or standing idly on the side.
Bullying is repetitive behavior towards an individual that causes emotional or physical harm or distress, a few mean words are in no way bullying, but if parents do not take care of the issue when it’s just a few mean words, the potential is there for it to become repetitive behavior.
Words hurt.
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