Anti-Bullying Starts in First Grade. A mother writes about her disappointment at finding out her little girl Katie got teased for carrying a Star Wars water bottle to school because “it’s for boys.” The comments are full of support from geeky women telling Katie that it’s okay to be different, it’s okay to like things that other people say aren’t “girly,” and most of all, it’s okay to love Star Wars! I couldn’t have put it any better myself.
5 responses
I’m not a Star Wars fan (I guess I’m not cool;) but I agree with your comment on this subject.
I try to teach my boy that it’s OK to be different on so many levels and to be individual as this is cool.
I think that Marcus would have a great role model for this in his Mum! 🙂
I like that she acknowledges adults bullying each other for different political or religious beliefs. This problem comes from those types of people, on both sides! From parents who either think their comments/opinions/attitudes are innocuous or are going unnoticed by their kids. I am fully aware that by raising my kids as a Christian, if they choose this faith, they will be a minority in their generation and they WILL be harrassed and/or bullied because of it (if not also for their names, Indie’s mole, Penn’s tendency to cry at the drop of a hat, etc…) But all I can do is continue to try to teach them not just tolerance of diversity, but how to truly LOVE EVERYONE…including those who also persecute them. Not an easy task for anybody…
Although? You know what annoys me most of all? That we still have concepts of ‘boy stuff’ and ‘girl stuff’ around 30 years post-feminism!!
I totally hate it. I have kids of a similar age, and have already needed multiple discussions about “those toys are for everyone, not just boys” “dinosaurs can be interesting for girls or boys” and so on. And it’s meant to be a progressive school. Gah!
Put more succinctly: why are feminist ideas “diverse” or “different” and needing “tolerance”. It should be mainstream by now!