Let’s start with a school in New York: Tricia’s Story
Tricia, a smart, quiet seventh grader has been constantly taunted for two years. Her classmates tease her about everything from what she wears to her bushy eyebrows. She sits alone at lunch and Tricia’s classmates make sure to ignore her in the hallways or “accidentally” bump into her.
Tricia has started to put herself down and is feeling “ugly” and “dumb.” Mom, an extrovert, advises her introverted daughter: “Just yell back at them when they tease and take no nonsense.”
The “nonsense” continues and after many letters and phone calls to the school administration with no results, her mother’s patience wears thin. She asks Tricia if she could talk to the kids directly and, surprisingly, Tricia encourages it. So on the way home from a school trip to an amusement park, Tricia’s mom stands up, asks the teacher if she could say a few words, and to the amazement of all on the bus, Tricia’s mom is blunt. She calls out the entire class and the boisterous mood turns to shock. As they squirm in their seats, Tricia’s mom tells them in no uncertain terms that she knows what they’re doing and they better stop.
Right or wrong? Stay tuned for the next Tangled Ball blog when we ask the experts to weigh in.
