Why Are Kids So Mean? Let's Stop The Hate!

There is a very serious issue I would like to vent...oops...I mean TALK about.... Bullying. My son is in the 5th grade, and is 10 years old. He is a very sensitive kid, and tends to already wear his feelings on his sleeve. He isn’t your typical “boy’s boy.” He doesn’t really care for sports, and he doesn’t play violent video games. He is more creative, and loves art, dance, and music. He is very sweet and very thoughtful. He is actually a very well-liked kid by students and staff. Except for a select group of bullies. They view Kyle as being “different”, and he is. He is polite, he doesn’t cuss, and he has no interest in being nasty to other kids along with this little clique. Well, this apparently makes him a target. I just got a call from his school’s guidance counselor. He has been having a very rough day, and had a bit of a meltdown today in the cafeteria.

She was able to talk to him and find out what has been bothering him, and I am literally at a loss….Apparently, there is a group of brats…oops, I mean boys, that are literally making his life at school a living hell. He has expressed this to me and my husband, and we have had to contact both teachers and the principal in the past. This year, we *thought* things were starting to improve. Wrong. It has escalated. Now he is being called gay, a faggot, a girl, and these bullies have even gone as far as following him into the bathroom and trying to see if he has a penis while he uses the restroom. They have also written nasty things about Kyle on the bathroom walls, calling him gay, queer, etc… This is totally and completely unacceptable to me, and as a mother, I want to go put the fear of God into these little heathens, but as a rational adult, I know this is not something I can do.

First of all, these kids are 10 years old. WHY should anyone’s sexual orientation even be an issue? I don’t think Kyle is gay, as he does have major crushes on girls, but if he were, would I love him any less? Of course not! Someone’s sexual preference isn’t something they CHOOSE. People are born that way. Does that make them any less of a human being? Does a boy being sensitive and a little effeminate mean they deserve to be tormented on a daily basis by their peers? Should my child and other kids like him be afraid to go to school everyday? NO. School is a place where he should feel SAFE. He should NOT have to be basically sexually harassed, because let’s face it, that’s EXACTLY what it is if these boys are trying to see his genitals, and he should not have to feel like he isn’t good enough just because he doesn’t want to play football or play Call Of Duty.

Do I place the blame on these nasty little children? You’re damn right I do…But even more-so, I blame their parents. Kids learn what they live, and if a child is taught to be racist, homophobic, violent, etc, more often than not, they are mirroring behaviors they are learning AT HOME. That’s right. I said it. These kids learn this kind of ignorance and hatred in their own homes. Is this acceptable  in 2010? Is it okay for children to bully and torment others? Is it okay in this day in age for someone to be ridiculed based on things like sexual orientation, size, social status, disability, religion, ethnicity, race, etc? Of course it isn’t. We as parents need to STOP THE HATE in our own homes. We need to teach our children to respect and embrace the differences we all have. We need to teach our kids that it’s OKAY to be different and that everyone has special gifts and talents to offer. We need to teach our children tolerance. This is a REAL problem. Kids commit suicide over things like this. Kids commit violent acts against others because of things like this. Let’s make it a point to STOP this craziness YOUNG…In elementary school, if not younger. Kids are mean. That’s a given. But there are lines that need not be crossed, and we should not tolerate this from ourselves, from our schools, from our communities, and especially from our children. I don’t want to have to see my child cry everyday. Just a rant, and some food for thought.