It All Happened Because Mark Overslept and Missed Breakfast

A. Teacher reads story to the class called "It All Happened Because Mark Overslept and Missed Breakfast."

B. Story Description: Conflict happens when one or more of your Basic Needs get messed with. Listen to this story about Mark and the chain reaction of actions that happened as a result of what was going wrong with him.

It All Happened Because Mark Overslept and Missed Breakfast

Mark was having a really bad day. First, he overslept that morning. He just barely got dressed in time before the school bus came; therefore, he missed breakfast altogether. By the time the bus got him to school, he was feeling really hungry. Unfortunately, he only had enough money for lunch. He thought, "Oh, well! I'll have to miss breakfast."

The problem with that was that Mark got crabby when he was hungry. He snapped at one of his good friends. He also had trouble concentrating in class. Mark failed to answer an easy question posed to him by a teacher, because he didn't have the energy to focus on what she was teaching. Then the teacher snapped at him. Mrs. Jenkins snapped, "Mark! It's obvious to me that you have not been paying attention! Get your act together, young man, or I will give you a demerit slip!"

Like I said before, Mark was having a really bad day.

His friend's name was Ted. Ted was so upset that Mark snapped at him when he didn't do anything to deserve it that he felt the need to take that anger and frustration out on someone weaker and smaller than him. In the hallway, he found this sixth grade kid named Billy. Ted brushed by him, turned, and yelled, "Get out of my way, kid! Get out of my way, you little shrimp, or else I'll do something worse than just yell at you!"

Of course, sixth grader Billy was really upset that this seventh grader had decided to yell at him for seemingly no reason. So he went and found his big brother, Ben, in the hallway. He complained, "Ben! This seventh grader threatened to get me if I didn't get out of his way. I wasn't even in his way in the first place. I was just walking down the hallway, on my way to class. Plus, he made fun of me for being short!"

The sixth grader's big brother, Ben, was in eighth grade and on the football team. He was big and rough and tough! He growled, "Who was this guy, Billy?"

Billy said, "I think his name is Ted. He has dark brown hair that's straight. He's tall and skinny and he's wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue jeans."

Ben said, "Don't worry about him, Billy! I can guarantee that he will NEVER pick on you again!"

Billy smiled, "Thanks, Ben! You're the greatest!"

When Ben heard what had happened to his younger brother, Billy, he went searching for Ted to get his revenge. When Ben found Ted, he collared him and threatened him with bodily harm if he ever picked on his kid brother again. Ben yelled, "Hey! What's the big idea picking on my kid brother?"

Ted kind of stammered, "Uh! Well, ..., uh, ..., I don't know."

Ben yelled, "You better know! I'll make you know that you better never even as much as touch my little brother Billy again or I'll smack down on you big time!" Then Ben stomped triumphantly away.

Ted stood there, staring after him, mouth agape. Ted was quite shaken and walked quickly to his next class. Ted thought, "Man! Mark's gonna get it! This is all his fault! With friends like that, who needs enemies?!!"

The sixth grader, Billy, wasn't around to see his older brother, Ben, collar Ted as he had to get to class, but he heard about this encounter with quite a bit of pleasure. He thought, "That will teach that kid a lesson for picking on me for being short!"

Now Ted was even more upset. First Mark snapped at him. Then this big 8th grader, Ben, was pushing him around. Once again, Ted no longer felt SAFE and SECURE as he now had to watch out for Ben. This was turning into a very bad day for him. Ted stomped into class, only to find out that he was tardy. So he got a Demerit slip from the teacher. Now it was Ted who couldn't concentrate in class.

When the teacher asked him a question, he couldn't answer properly, as he didn't even really hear what she was asking. Mrs. Jenkins snapped at him and said, "Ted, you better pay better attention in my class, or I'll have to give you another demerit slip!"

Ted tried hard to do what she asked; but inside, he was fuming.

As for Mark, he kind of felt a bit sick as he was so hungry. He thought lunchtime would never come. He thought, "Man! I'm kind of feeling sick to my stomach as I'm so hungry! I can hardly wait for lunch!"

When it finally did come, Mark stuffed his face as fast as he could. He was feeling so much better until Ted came storming into the cafeteria, yelling at him. Ted yelled, "It's all your fault, Mark! Because you snapped at me this morning for no good reason, I got picked on by an 8th grader. The 8th grader made me late! Then a teacher gave me a demerit slip for being tardy and nearly gave me another one for not paying attention in class. So what's the big idea, snapping at me this morning like you did?"

Mark stared at his friend Ted in amazement. Finally, he said, "Uh, I'm sorry! I missed breakfast because I overslept. You know I always get crabby when I'm hungry! I didn't mean for all that stuff to happen to you, though. I hope you can forgive me, Ted. Please!"

Ted stared at Mark hard for several moments. Finally, he said, "You mean to say that all that stuff happened to me because you overslept and missed breakfast?"

Mark said, "Uh, yeah, ..., I guess. Like I said, I'm really sorry!"

Ted finally said, "Well, ..., all right, Mark! I'll forgive you this time, but you better never miss breakfast ever again! Otherwise, our friendship may be over for good!"

Mark nodded his head. He thought, "Man! I sure hope this afternoon goes better than this morning. This has been the worst day ever! But at least, ..., I got to eat lunch."

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