The other day I was at my son’s school for a theater workshop. I was speaking to another mom. Our kids are in the same class and it was the first time we met. She said she is planning to home school her kid next year, because her kid is depressed because she is being bullied. Badly.
Obviously – I did give her my card and told her about the free resources I offer. But this sort of story just breaks my heart. This girl is liked by a lot of kids. My son knows this girl and thinks she’s cool. But the girl thinks – no one likes her. She feels alone, even though she is not.
Everyone is bullied at some point. If you are being bullied, understand, you are not the only one in your school experiencing it. Reach out to others to find people you can connect with who will support you.
My son has kids he gets along with and kids he doesn’t. And sometimes kids are mean to him. But he’s got friends so the few kids who are mean, don’t bother him much. He mostly just ignores them.
This girl, doesn’t feel like she has friends, even though there are kids who want to be her friend. Like my son.
When my son was in grade school, he was having a really hard time on the playground. He has physical disabilities which made it difficult to play any running or tag related game. He was being excluded and felt really bad about it. I told him to look for other kids who were being excluded and to make friends with them. He did. The next day. There were other kids who were excluded. He wasn’t the only one.
It is very easy to feel isolated when a group of kids excludes you. The antidote, is to find the other excluded kids and make your own group. That way – you have a group you are included in.
Yest, this takes courage. It takes a willingness to put yourself out there. And yes, it takes willing to risk being rejected. But with so many lonely people in the world, just hoping someone will notice them, if the first person you approach rejects you – just keep looking for those people who seem to be alone and reach out to them. You will feel better and they will feel better.
Everyone needs friends. Everyone. If you see someone by themselves, introduce yourself. You may just make a new friend.