Harassment to Your Child

I believe this is one of those topics, that I can very much relate to. Harassment is the giving, of something constantly, or frequently to someone, an insult, a touch, words, expressions, etc, that can make someone feel bad or hurt their feelings.
You get the jest.
I am really having a time trying to understand why my daughter is getting harassed at school by members of her peer group.

A little about my daughter is needed to show the full picture of this.
My daughter is a new teenager.
She has friends of all sorts.
Some are Christian believers, and some are rockers.
She has some that are rebels to rules.
She even befriends the odd ones, the ones that no one would even think twice of being friends to.
She has started along with another friend a group at school.
It is a Christian group, and it is for anyone who wants to pray together, or wish to make our society better.
Any faith is welcomed. Any one is welcomed.
I applaud her in her stance, and I am grateful that my daughter stands up at times for something she truly has a passion for.
Which gets her picked at once in a while from her rocker friends, or rebel friends.

But she does not care.
She believes what she is doing, is a good thing. It helps people, our nation, and all.
She is wise beyond her years, and she is a individual, that is no doubt.
She stands alone if she needs to, she also wishes to have friends, and people like her.
She is one that will not bend, just because you have a slight problem with her.
In other words, she is who she is and proud of it, no matter what anyone thinks. And sometimes even though she does not come up and say anything about it bothering her, I can tell, I see it all over her face, and in her demeanor.
As parents, we know when sometimes when something is hurting our children.

But, like all kids that age, peer pressure is great, and not in lack of supply, either.
She has been taunted by certain stereotyped children.

The ones who are flashy, needs the high dollar things.
The ones who buy only the popular things, they are the preppy group, as they call themselves.
She constantly gets asked what brand of purse she has, or what brand of clothes she wears.
She is aggravated by all the"Brand Name " talk.
They laugh at her, roll their eyes at her, and ignore her at times.She is very giving, and a time or two she has lent out her own money to the ones who asked, or needed it.
She has gone without her stuff , just so her peer could have something, because she felt sorry for their situation, or other.

I have warned her that not everyone is truly genuine and sincere in their actions.
I have tried to help her cope with this constant review by the "Preppy" group, and so forth.
I really do not understand, why someone raises a child to not have respect for others preferences or their feelings.
You know?
'''I believe this is a harassment that is not necessary , especially at school.
Our children have a hard enough time trying to keep up with their studies, and should not have to worry about being harassed about their clothes, or their hair, or even the purse they carry.'''

What gets me as well, is the fact that kids this age, usually carry purses that someone has bought for them, not that they have bought for themselves(giving them no pick in it at all), and they usually wear clothes that their parents can afford to buy them.
I truly believe it is not the child's fault, because they have to wear a certain thing, that is not up to par with the others.
It is not their doing.
Even if it was, a child should be allowed to wear and dress like they choose, (if it is decent enough), and they look clean, you know?

I feel for my daughter, and others.This is an example of many stories, where a kids gets picked on because of her/his clothes, or social ostracized and they turn into a one man killing machine, and wipe out a whole school lunchroom or something.
You have all seen this in the news.

Kids that get harassed and picked on, can eventually start to kill.
Kill others or their selves.
This is a tragedy.
A "could have been prevented" tragedy.
I truly feel bad and saddened to think that there are shallow people, raising shallow children, who feel it necessary to let their children live above their means, and then snub down their noses at other children.

I believe we all must try and prevent harassment of any kind. Harassment by groups, or individuals.
Harassment by bosses, and leaders, should be banned.
Any form of harassment needs to be stopped.
The sad truth though, is that no matter where you go, there will be a time when you will witness a harass, or a time when you will be the one harassed, if you ever stand up for something you believe, or you are not walking the walk and talking the talk, of the popular.

Our societies have been built by achievers.
Sometimes that came about from a action of harassment.
Think about it.
Companies lay off workers, why, because someone is harassing them about their moneys, or about their statistics in the business realm of things.
Maybe a boss, or a company, or a bank. Who knows.
I am not suggesting that that is the main reason, or the case every time though.
I am just using it as a possibility , of course.

But concerning our children, the lack of proper influence that they get, it is a mistake to let continue.
But all we can do, the parents of the children harassed is encourage our children to have a belief system, one in which they have no doubts.
Something that when it is tested, will not falter, or fall.
That way they can become a stronger individual, and in doing that, they will be more apt to deal with today's obstacles, from their peers, or others.
Hopefully they will become leaders of change in social behaviors.
Of social principles, amongst their peers.
I have brought this up, because as a substitute teacher, a parent and a citizen, I see daily, the effects of harassment, social harassment and what it does to a child.
These children, will regress and they will become lost in the corners, somewhere,
Wanting to belong, or be accepted for who they are and what they wear.
They will want to be liked, but not know how to do that, except for maybe, stealing, something that is very popular, or maybe they will lash out at their loved ones, or maybe they will grow up believing they are not worth much.
I for one, hope that never happens to my child, to anyone else's child.

Please if you know of a situation that a child, someone, is facing, in way of being harassed, please try and make a difference, try and persuade the harassers to stop.
Try and give the harassed something to look forward to, maybe some encouragement, or acknowledge that persons good points, or self worth.
Maybe a safe place to be, or just lend a open ear.
Lets all work together to make harassment of the social kind, obsolete.
We can make a difference, one person/child, at a time.
***As you can see I feel strongly about this topic.
It has affected my life, my children's, and people I know, people I don't know .
It is a growing problem.
We see it in workplaces, schools, malls, and airports. We hear about it in the news, in our neighborhood. Let's take a stand, for our children, for us, and all.