Bully Free Zone
Every time I hear another heart wrenching story of a child being bullied, especially being bullied to death, my heart cries for there but the grace of God goes my child, who is on the autism spectrum and who was a victim of bullying a few years ago. I learned many of the books for middle school girls were all about being mean to be popular and some of the mothers were okay with their daughters being mean.
This information started me on a mission to educate others about differences in the hope of changing our world to a place of tolerance of others' differences and hopefully even to acceptance of those with differences. We need to make kindness to others the norm in our schools instead of meanness to others. This is why I wrote
Delightfully Different, an
award-winning young adult, novel.
Adults need to model better behavior and stop celebrating meanness towards others. Reality shows may make some feel better about their own lives, but certainly do not set good examples for our children.
Parents need to teach their children responsible use of technology too. Harassing others, defaming their character, and other forms of misuse of technology need to stop. Parents need to realize they are responsible for their children and be held accountable for their actions.
It is time for children to learn that assaulting others is against the law and youth should not let you off the hook when you assault others for fun. Just because there has always been bullying does not mean we have to allow it to continue. Let's all do our part to change the world so the next generation has hope for a kinder, gentler world.
