Just read where my nephew was being bullied/picked on during a t-ball game! This upsets me so much!! The first thought that comes to my mind is that IT IS JUST A GAME!! Why do parents and children take it so dang seriously?!? So what if they miss a few balls, so what if they don’t reach the base, so what if they strike out over and over! Why does it matter? T-ball is supposed to be about learning the basics of the sport, learning about SPORTSMANSHIP, and most of all having fun!
When a little boy comes off of the field with tears in his eyes during a game something is terribly wrong! Especially when not one parent or coach stopped the kids from being bullies. It wouldn’t take much to help solve this problem. Heck you don’t even have to kick them off of the team…just have some consequence to it..even if it is just speaking to the child/children about it the first time it happens.
What bothers me even more is that had my sister not been there to witness the bullying, she would most likely not know about it. We both have raised our children that it isn’t nice to be a “tattle-tail” and to try and handle most situations on your own. If that doesn’t work then you let an adult know. There is a poem that comes to my mind during times like this:
By Chaplain Bob Fox
| He stands at the plate with his heart pounding fast. The bases are loaded, the die has been cast. Mom and Dad cannot help him, he stands all alone. A hit at this moment would send his team home. The ball meets the plate, he swings and he misses. There’s a groan from the crowd, with some boos and some hisses. A thoughtless voice cries, “Strike out the bum.” Tears fill his eyes, the game’s no longer fun. So open up your heart and give him a break, for it’s moments like this, a man you can make. Please keep this in mind when you hear someone forget, He is just a little boy, and not a man yet. |
Please, please, please share this poem with people that you know! Share any advice you have for handling these situations and also share with your friends, children, and family that it is okay to stand up for yourself and that being a bully is often something that children learn at home. If your child is a bully then take a moment to step back and look at your life and how you handle different situations. You may be doing something small that your child is then taking and changing enough to make it seem okay to bully someone. Please don’t read that and think “oh she is blaming the parents for the child”, I don’t mean that you are telling your child to be a bully. I am simply saying that maybe, just maybe, there is something that you say or do in your daily life that they are interpreting in a different way than you mean it to be.