November 27, 2017
We ALL Make Mistakes


Hello Dr. Laura:

I've often heard you say that bullying goes on because no one takes a stand and does anything about it.  That's not the case for my 16-year-old daughter.

Before the holidays, during her math class, the teacher called on a student sitting next to my daughter and asked him to give the answer to the questions posed.  When the student got it wrong, the kid sitting in front of him turned around and said: "I don't understand why you're here - you belong in the 'small class' because you're mentally retarded!"  Hearing this, my daughter slammed her hand down on the desk and looked the bully in the eye saying "You're not perfect; you make mistakes, too, and I don't want to hear anything come out of your mouth unless it's an apology."  My daughter was sent out of the room, and after a while, the teacher came out and told her that she wasn't in trouble and he was proud of her.  That kid had been bullying other students for a while, and teachers had not managed to solve the problem.  

After my daughter called him out, however, the kid remained quiet throughout the rest of the class.

Unfortunately, because bullying is so common these days, this is not the only time my daughter has called out kids when needed.  She has more guts than I ever had and when I asked her why she feels the need to speak out, she simply said: "Because bullying is not right and we have to stand up to them."  She is so right, and I'm very proud of her.

Shelli




Posted by Staff at 10:59 AM