Bullying Comes In All Shapes and Sizes

It’s with a heavy heart I wake up this morning. The news of more violence and another life taken makes me terribly sad. It also makes me outraged, frustrated, disappointed and at a loss of words. Why are we allowing this behavior to continue? Innocent lives are being taken for senseless reasons. And the individuals responsible for the violence are not being held accountable for their actions. At least not until there is national outrage, rioting and looting.

I can’t begin to imagine how George Floyd’s family is feeling right now. Not only have they lost their brother, cousin, son, etc, they have to be exposed to the act of his death being played out repeatedly. It’s the leading story on every news cast. They are witnessing the protesting taking place here in my hometown of Minneapolis and across the US. People speaking out for the injustice that is being demonstrated. Unfortunately, those protests are moving from peaceful acts to violence. Buildings being burnt down, stores looted and another life taken. This has got to stop.

As a mother of young girls, I see bullying take place rather frequently. Not to the extent we are seeing in national news but bullying none the less. It comes in many forms and through multiple channels. Kids can be down right mean to one another. Some bully others physically, others mentally and yet others socially. And what’s more alarming is their behavior is allowed to continue. I have witnessed school administrators at a loss of how to address the bully. Many times, the child who stands up for themself the one punished. Not the bully. I have watched more than one parent refuse to admit their child could possibly be a bully. To the point of them acting out in the same manner as their child.

I believe this is a learned behavior. I refuse to believe kids come into this world destined to be mean and to bully others. They are exposed to bad behavior on tv, in school, at the playground, online and yes, in their own home. These kids are watching our actions, the lack of repercussions and they are following our lead. And please, don’t tell me it’s not the parents fault. I am quite active on social media and I get the great pleasure of watching grown ass adults act terribly to one another every single day.

We are fortunate we live in a country where free speech is not only acceptable, it’s expected. BUT….that doesn’t mean you should use your voice to tear down another person. Or be cruel to someone because their views, opinions, skin color or preferences are different than yours. We can agree to disagree without hurting one another, physically or emotionally. You never know what other challenges a person is dealing with and your words could be what pushes them over the ledge or brings them back to a safe place. What do you want to spend the rest of your life thinking about? How you saved someone or how you broke them down?

Fighting violence with violence is not a solution. Bullying a bully won’t stop the behavior. We have to act with a kind heart and mind. We have to respect one another and we have to hold people, including young kids, accountable for their actions. No matter what! We can use the recent events as teaching moments. We can have deliberate conversations with our children to help them understand why this behavior is unacceptable. We can educate them on alternative ways to address a bully. In this case, it’s a bit more difficult given the bullies were four police officers but a lesson can be learned none the less. We can and should have an open discussion about their own behavior and answer their questions.

We can’t change the past but we can learn from it and change our trajectory into the future. Each of us can stand up, speak out and stop bullying once and for all. Every act of kindness and every life matters. What are you doing to make a difference? What you doing to take just one step forward in stopping the bullying, injustices and inequalities from continuing? These are questions I continue to ponder and will for days/weeks to come. I am vowing to stand up, speak out and stop bullying to the extent I can. Care to join me?

Would love to hear your thoughts, opinions, etc. Just remember, no bullying tolerated here 😉

Until next time…..

Mama Llama a.k.a. Lisa