Don't say nothin' at all

I have been reading about all of this coverage on bullying, cyberbullying, children committing suicide because of bullying...

And none of this is new.

To this day, I still hear the taunts... the rude songs, the girls who pulled my hair and told me I was ugly. Being left out of games, singled out for some random torment. Being mocked for the clothes I had, my glasses... for my mom being a lesbian.

Thankfully I got most of the school crud done before the internet was used as it is now, but it would only have been worse if people could have found me online.

I don't know if I was bullied or just mocked.

No wonder I always had my head in a book.

Oh, and my "best friend" was only my friend AFTER school. When we were at school, she just ignored the others teasing me, ignored me, never stood up for me.

But I will know the signs to watch out for when Liam starts school.

And if I could do it all again, I don't know if it would be any different. I would still have my nose in a book, or maybe I would just smack those kids upside the head with my book.

I worry what will happen to children as more and more of our lives are online. We are now open to be bullied in our own homes, it does not end when school is out.

The best advice I can give, is that if you are getting bullied online, change your screen name, get a new e-mail address and set up a NEW facebook account, or just block those people who are being mean to you. Its what I did when a few weeks ago someone who I thought was a friend turned into an ugly bitch. I blocked her from my e-mail, my instant messenger, my facebook, and anywhere else I might see her.

And if it is in person, just bury your nose in a book and try to ignore them. I won't say that I didn't care what they said about me, but I could lessen the pain if I got busy doing something else.

Maybe those bullies never had parents to teach them to be decent people. In some cases, the parents even seem to encourage the bullies with their close minded ideas that they teach the children. People forget that our children learn by watching US. If we make an off color comment about a certain gender, race, color or orientation of people, then our children learn that it is ok to do the same. Maybe the bullies parents didn't even realize they were making a bully. Or maybe they did, maybe they just hate other people so much they want to pass that hatred along.

I wish we could all become more tolerant of everyone else in this world.

To learn that lesson from Bambi that every person should carry in their mind... "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all!"