Bullying.

I wanted to talk about something very serious going on in our schools today. I work in all levels of schools daily, all over the state and I have seen a growing trend of isolation among kids that are "different" and don't fit in. It is never anything outright or obvious when these kids are in front of adults, but when I take a look away from my camera I see these kids, broken and scared, terrified of what the next comment will be. And when they get in front of the camera, most of them are still those shy, scared to death kids. Especially the girls, the "different" ones (god forbid they break the mold) look at me with those wide eyes and it breaks my heart. I make sure to tell every one of those girls they are beautiful, and in my own small way, I hope it somehow helps them.

In high school, (and elementary/middle for me, Kathy moved to our school freshman year) I can't even think of more than two fights that happened in our school. We weren't the most popular kids at all, but we were never made fun of and I can't think of any kids that were directly made fun of, or tormented I should say. Is the midwest that different from other places in this country, or were we just very lucky?

I was speaking with a friend the other night about bullying and he told me how much he got picked on throughout his entire school career. It broke my heart to think about this. Let's just say he was "different" because of his body type and because of this he was tormented, teased and beat up until he joined sports, bulked up and could defend himself. Only then was he accepted, you know, after he stopped becoming a punching bag for those other idiot kids.

He grew up in the South, and because of this I am gunshy of raising my kids here. In the South, with rednecks who think anyone who isn't a jock, or hunts or speaks with a drawl is "different" and I see that in schools today. Is every school like that here? Or are there some gems which will be okay? I don't want my kids to be exposed to this or be a part in it.

I guess I was pretty naive about schools until recently.

So let's relate this back to this blog, being a fat kid. The girls I see in schools daily, don't usually have many friends. Whenever they come up to take their photos, the boys behind them are just silent (which is an awful sign by the way) and those brave beautiful girls either give me a huge smile or are so sheepish and terrified they barely can look at the camera.

It's an easy thing to say once you are an adult, how stupid it is to make fun of anyone for being "different" or for things they cannot control, but when you are a kid, well that's another story. Being in middle & high school brings out the worst in people, and unfortunately as adults, we cannot do anything to really stop this. However, when you encounter those girls, or those boys whom are awkward, a little fat, nose a little big, tell them how awesome they are every chance you get and maybe, just maybe, it will make the difference in some small way.