7th Grade Bullys...

Kids are tough...

     Growing up I never really saw myself as the fat kid.  I would see movies and other kids that were bigger than me and I felt that I was just a little bigger than normal.  I thought that what I was, was normal.  My parents didn't tell me any different.  The only person who would tell me I needed to drop a few pounds would be my doctor and what did he know?  

     I wish that I would have eaten healthier as a kid, but I have to now share what I experienced in the hope that others can learn before it's too late.  There are always going to be something kids will find about you that they do not like or want to let you know about.  As a kid it is extremely hard to handle what kids have to say about you.

     In seventh grade, instances very much pop out in my head that let me know not just how poor we were, but how overweight I was.  We didn't have the money to buy me a new coat that year so I wore the one from the year before, even though I had grown out of it.  It was the year that the movie Tommy Boy with Chris Farley was very popular.  One kid, who I thought was my friend, saw it and decided it would be funny to use a popular line from that movie on me.  "Fat guy in a little coat." It didn't take long for that to catch on with other kids, leading to not just being teased, but picked on by physical abuse as well.  

     We all had our demons when we were kids.  Many of us were picked on for one thing or another.  It is more important than ever to help our kids avoid being bullied.   It took a lot but I was eventually able to overcome the bulling I had unleashed onto me.  Eventually in high school kids started to see me for what I was, not for how I looked.  However, I do wish that I would have been more educated about my weight when I was younger.

     Bulling is rising and is becoming more of a concern in today's society.  It may seem like kids just being kids, or a little bit of teasing, but I've been there and know that is just the start.  It's time to cut the crap of giving kids excuses and not holding them accountable for their actions.  My teasing started as just teasing, then lead to being pushed into lockers, and being made fun of worse than just Fat kid in a little coat.  It is time to speak up for our kids.  Many schools do not put up with kids being bullied, but can't help if they don't know. Speak up.  Not just for your child, but for all the children that may be being bullied by the same kid.

     Also, I have determined that there is nothing wrong with teaching our kids about eating healthy and exercising.  I wonder if someone would have had a serious talk with me about these issues if things may have been different.  Too many of our kids today are obese, but we must be sensitive to their feelings.  If we educate them on eating right and exercising and lead by example, then their weight will become a healthy weight without hurting their feelings.  We need to make sure we aren't one of those bullies when it comes to our kids weight. 

     It is going to take a huge movement to not just change the way our kids eat at home, but also at school.  Education is the greatest weapon we have today against weight loss.  Who knows, maybe you will also learn something yourself.