Bullying kills!!!!

Our children are dying! And it is up to us to save them.

I once said that middle school was a curse I wouldn't wish on anyone and today I still stand by it.

My first American schooling experience was in the 6th grade in the state of Texas. I previously lived in Lagos, Nigeria. I showed up on my first day wearing ballet slippers and two pig tails dangling past my shoulders. My eagerness to blend into this new life as a normal American teenager exploded across my face behind a generous grin. I walked into laughter and the feel was sweet. I saw others who looked like me, dark, African, and many more who were white and Latino. What a beautiful blend of people, I thought, until I realized I was not one of them. The harsh truth came when the laughter continued as I walked by, and a boy called out to me, "African booty scratcher."

I ignored it then and fought through many more hurtful comments on a near daily basis. My days seemed to drag on through the insults and attacks of my existence, and surviving that ordeal was an impossibility.

Now, after living through the adversities of that time, I only wish I could say to the thirteen year old me, "None of it matters. You get past it!"

Bullies exist as a part of life, and the pain they inflict cuts deep, but I am so grateful that I did not succumb to the pressures of that hurt.

A child shot herself at my daughter's school last week, and she came home to tell me that the girl did so because kids bullied her. My kid said, "There wasn't even anything wrong with her and she was nice and so pretty."

After consoling and counseling my daughter on the effects of bullying, I wondered if that child had ever heard that opinion from anyone of her classmates and what a difference it would have made.

My plea to anyone feeling cornered by the meanies in this world is this: forget them, your job is to live every day as if the next one is only going to get better.

I hope those parents manage this terrible time peacefully, and I hope that we don't lose any more children in this way.

Tomorrow will be different!!!

Feel free to leave comments, and questions; this is a safe place.