Sticks & Stones

The old saying goes, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." But is that really true?

I asked my son Joseph that yesterday and he had never heard of that saying. Which was weird for me and made me feel old. Maybe it's a Minnesota saying. Like 'Slow as Christmas' is a southern saying.

Anyway...Joseph got in trouble in school yesterday. He got in trouble for saying insulting remarks to a girl in his class about her weight. He also called her Godzilla. Twelve other boys also got in trouble for doing the same.

The thing is this…as soon as Joseph got home he said, “Adam, I got to talk to you…” He said something about being caught up in the moment and he didn’t mean to do it and so on and so forth. He’s telling me all this before I even get a chance to figure out what’s going on and what he actually did. He knew he was going to be in trouble.

The thing that is really discouraging for me is this…Joseph isn’t a mean child. He, himself, has been dealing with being called names and getting his feelings hurt because of being called names. And what does he do? He joins in with other children in harassing a girl in his class while they were at lunch yesterday.

The teacher’s punishment for the bad behavior is having Joseph (and I assume all the other boys involved) write a letter of apology to the girl and to her parents. Apparently Joseph has to appear before the school principal and answer for his actions today. And he has to share his letters he wrote with the principal. Good punishment.

I wonder how this girl’s parents felt when they were informed of what happened. This can’t be easy for the child in question. But as a parent, I wonder how her parents are dealing with this. I know that I hurt when my children hurt. It’s not easy when you see your child scorned or made fun of.

I just hope that Joseph learned his lesson. He is a much better child than this behavior.

AJ