Ashamedly, there are braver people out there than I. In looking for others out there with concerns similar to mine, I came across what I understand to be Jeannine Garsee’s journal Elusive Sanity, where her topic Tuesday was “Bullying and a Bit of Self-Disclosure.” She started out with a nice shout out to Judy Gregerson’s Bad Girls Club journal and shared the Bad Girls’ link to LoveOurChildrenUSA.org.
LoveOurChildren is a site to add to my own favorites, but I wanted to applaud Garsee for her self-disclosure. It’s hard to admit to having been a bully, and I’ve not fully disclosed what I have done in my own past, though I have briefly alluded to my experience on the receiving end. What’s up with that Mike? Can’t handle the truth? Honestly? No. It’s shameful. It’s stupid. I know what I did. He knows what I did. I consider him a friend now, and like Garsee, we’ve never talked about what happened.
The kicker? I was cruel even after others had been cruel to me. And while I worry about my son being a victim (and does ignoring the bully really work Mom and Dad?), I worry just as much about him not learning anything by being a victim and being just as big a jerk – if not bigger – to another kid just because he’s fat, wears glasses and has asthma.
