Recent news makes a mom wonder if her kids do the right thing in the face of peer pressure and general kid stupidity. Hope came home yesterday and said she was glad to be off the bus because a kid had an accident at school. Motherly prodding elicited more details which may or may not have been truthy/truthful. A little kid, a boy, had pooped his pants at school and was carrying said soiled pants home in a plastic bag on the bus. The bag had a hole, said Hope, and so it was stinky and teasing ensued. Hope sat near the boy and she told me she encouraged him to ignore the teasing from several cohorts. She said it "sorta" made him feel better. I hope it did better than that because I am fully aware of the torrent of torment that can be unleashed on a human being. I was both the giver and the receiver. We need to be nicer to one another.
One of the huge benefits of working in the same school as Hope is that I have been able to introduce her to some of the kids with whom I work. I have seen signs of kindness and empathy in her that I hoped would be there. I didn't have that at her age.
Oh, sweet Hope. She's such a good soul, Whitney.
ReplyDeleteI will say that I love how our distric mainstreams kids who may otherwise be off in their own rooms or classes. I have had many chances to try and get all the kids to interact and see that just because someone may look, talk or act differently than them, they aren't any less deserving of kindness and friendship. I think the biggest feather in my cap came just a couple of weeks ago...we have a boy with CP at the school. He is able to walk, but with a bit of stiffness. His speech is hard to understand. This kid does everything himself, from carrying a tray across the lunchroom to running out onto the playground with as much speed and enthusiasm as every other kid.
The other day, he was just standing at the sidelines as a few of his classmates were playing a little football. I went up to him and said, "Hey, XXX, you want to get in on that game?". He looked up and me and said, "I don't think they want me to play." I said, "Oh, you're going to play."
I got the footballers gathered into a little huddle and told them that they have a classmate who wanted to join them. One or two of them groaned, but I said, "XXX is just like you, the only difference is that his body moves a little differently. He has the same feelings as you guys. How would you feel if you wanted to play a game and got the feeling that no one wanted you joining them?".
They let him play, and I will never forget the look on his face. I have to keep encouraging them to include him, but my hope is that someday they will no longer need the reminding and will just say, "Hey, wanna play?".