Ruminations

So I was discussing recent events, which I have mentioned here, with a colleague today. She feels frustrated and does not see where our efforts are succeeding. The fact that she will stop and converse with kids, though, may reach even one of them, and they will stop their hurtful behavior. It is frustrating when kids find humor in being cruel to other kids, and I as well as you have heard the lame mantra, "It's always been like that." "It happened when I was a kid, too." Blah, blah blah. Just because it happened when you were a kid doesn't make it right. Someone needs to stop and say, "Even though it happened when I was a kid, it isn't going to happen anymore." Where is that guy? Well, maybe WE have to be that guy. Atticus Finch had it right when he said, "Look at things from [another's] point of view. Crawl around in his skin for a while and see it from his perspective." I am paraphrasing, but the sentiment is sound. We all need to stop turning a blind eye to the bullies and the self-labeled hotshots. We can't pretend it's not happening; it is. And this mentality that teasing and picking on kids is some kind of bizarre rite of passage I don't buy. When you have done nothing to another person, you do not deserve that from anyone.