There has been much on the news about bullying and because of it, so many child suicides. Bullying is very prevalent in many school systems. From what I have read, it is often brought on by children/adults who are not given the attention from parents, or even the parents themselves could be bullies. This 
behavior is often learned in the home. Parents and teachers sometimes do not even recognize the bullying. This is not my platform, and I do not intend to make it one. However, it is one that is close to my heart and when it was brought close to home this week, it still hurts.
It brought back unpleasant memories of my middle elementary school years. I matured earlier than most of my friends, and I was called some very ugly names. Usually they were names that I had never heard, but I knew they were not very nice. I can remember wearing a coat even in the hot summer days to hide parts of my body from others. I was very embarrassed and could or would not tell my mother about the harassment. However, I have always had a mischievous streak inside and I learned to address the insults. I would get in their faces and sometimes I might intimidate them. I wish all the children being teased or bullied had a little of that spitefulness in their spirits, but most of them are very gentle-hearted and instead of retaliating, they become self-conscious and ashamed. It is almost always impossible to just “turn the other cheek.”
No two people are alike. Some wear glasses; some do not; some people are black; others are white or red skinned; some have freckles; others do not; some have curly hair; others have straight hair. We all are different, yet we are all the same. We all have feelings and we can be made happy or we can be hurt. Children who bully almost always have reasons they are this way. Some of them see others as better looking; others may come from a good family; they wear expensive clothes and shoes; they have more income they make really good grades this list could go on and on. There are those who conceal a jealousy and this is the way they let it out – teasing and bullying.
We are really not very different. If we were to share a friendship, I feel that we would have several things in common that would cause us to be fast friends.
So parents and grandparents, teach your children that we are all the same even if two people share the name of Saraphena Zuletta Avina, they would not be the same person; they are still different, just the same name. They may walk with a limp from a birth defect, be larger in size, stutter as they speak, be so skinny their ribs protrude, or be small or a giant, but they are still one of their classmates just as their friends are. Teaching begins in the home with the parents, and the hearts of the children are molded into a good person or a resentful, jealous person. This training, good or bad, remains with our children all through their lives. This is my special recipe for “Humble Pie:
Humble Pie
1 cup of kindness
2 cups of sweetness
3 cups of tolerance
5 cups of humbleness
7 cups of self-control
4 cups of acceptance
(1) check yourself
(2) pour all self- pride into a colander and sift until only humbleness is left
(3) Mix all together with humbleness and zip your lip and pour into a soft heart shell
(4) Let pie heat up but not boil over
(5) Place in cooler for a cool down and serve with compassion.
