Kids Can be so Cruel

Kids can be so cruel. As a mother, it is hard to watch one of your kids doing their best to wade through a sea of teasing from their supposed "friends." That seems to be the lot of one of my boys lately. Each day after school I will ask him about his day, and he will say something like "Well, it was kind of good." When pressed a little further, he will proceed to tell me about the latest thing that somebody said to hurt his feelings. He is ten, and it is hard to get an adequate picture of what is actually going on, but what I hear makes me really sad. He is afraid to wear his glasses at school because, as he put it the other day, he wants to look "normal." He only got them a couple of months ago, but the kids told him that the glasses were not going to help him to be any smarter. Who would want to wear the glasses after that? Then, too, he is a sports lover. His coordination is not always up to par, but he sure loves to play football and basketball. So, to have kids yelling at him when he misses a shot, drops the football, or doesn't quite get the pass to the intended person- is painful.

The insult continued when he was told that he sings horribly, even though he loves to sing. And, as he tries to follow a year behind his older brother who got every solo in music and straight A's without even trying, the kids think it is really funny to call him by his brother's name, despite his pleas for them to call him by his own name. Each day he comes home with a new story, and each night he prays that the kids won't make fun of him. It tears my heart out, but what can I do? This is my social child - the one who makes friends so easily and seems to feel comfortable quickly in most social situations. At some point, everybody needs to learn to deal with people who aren't very nice. But, day after day of cruelty is not good for anybody.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall to watch what is going on each day. Is he just being extra sensitive? Are the kids doing it intentionally, or just joking? Is he making a big deal out of something small, or is it really as it seems to me - getting out of control? I don't know that there is much I can do either way. Perhaps I need to talk to his teacher. There is a couple more months of school left, after which he will be moving to a different school in the fall. But, for now, I just pray that he will be alright - that he will not give credence to the mean things that the kids are saying to him. It has been hard enough for him to find something that he does well. In fact, I don't know that he has really finds his niche. That is not to say that he doesn't do anything well. He is very good at many things. He is just like me in that his talents are not always broadcast for the world to see, or have not been fully developed yet. And, the last thing he needs is somebody pointing out all that the doesn't do well - or as well as his brother.

Once again, kids can be so cruel. . .