“Mommy, am I stupid?”
When those words came out of my five-year-old daughter’s mouth the other day while I preparing lunch, I almost dropped the knife I was using to cut strawberries.
“Stupid” is a banned word in our home, so I knew my daughter’s query was not joke.
“Stupid?” I repeated, partially hoping that I had misunderstood her.
“Yeah… am I stupid?”
“Absolutely not!” I responded. “Why would you ask such as thing?”
“Today two first graders called me stupid.”
Oh really, I thought, trying to disguise my anger while simultaneously squashing thoughts of doing something, well, stupid, to the kids who dared take a stab at my kindergartener’s innocence and self confidence.
Long story short, I assured my daughter that the boys who were taunting her probably had no clue what “stupid” meant, and that their bad decision to pick on someone in the recess line was likely the result of boredom and not because of anything she had done.
She seemed content with my simplistic answer and welcomed the hugs, kisses, and “I love you” that came with it.
While I was relieved that my daughter was feeling better, I couldn’t stop thinking about the incident and wondered what would happen if the same thing happened again the next day… and the next… and the next.
So I did what any other modern day parent would do in my situation—-I turned to the Internet. I wasn’t about to call the school about a single name-calling incident, but I wanted to be prepared in case the bullying continued, or heaven forbid, escalated.
Interestingly, within a second of Googling “name calling” and pressing “Enter,” I learned about No Name-Calling Week.
What do you know?
This year No Name-Calling Week is taking place this week.
Oh, the irony.
Frankly, I didn’t even know such a week existed, but it does, and I couldn’t be happier that I found out about it before it was over.
The event is the brainchild of The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, and 40 other national organizations. The groups banned together in 2004 to “focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities.”
The project was inspired by a book entitled “The Misfits” by James Howe. In the story a group of bullied seventh graders band together and run for student council on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling across the board. While they don’t win the election, they do win over the principal and end up creating a “No Name-Calling Day” at school.
One of the people backing this year’s No Name Calling Week is Sirdeaner Walker. Her son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, committed suicide last years after enduring months of relentless bullying at school. Walker says she hopes the week will provide a reprieve for fat kids, nerdy kids or any other child who is mocked in school for having a trait that makes them stand out.
While the event focuses on grades 5 through 8, where the problem of name-calling is most severe, educators and parents with children in all grade levels are encouraged to use the week to discuss the problem of bullying with students.
What do you think of No Name Calling Week? Has your child ever been bullied?
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