Bullies

A little over a week ago I got a phone call from the school. Whitney was in trouble. For bullying. This beautiful child, 5'4" 118 pounds honor roll varsity athlete sweetest kid ever hates bullies champion of the underdog and friendless got in trouble for exactly that.

I listened to the vice principal tell me the story (from his point of view) getting more upset with every word. At him, the school and Whitney all three. Turns out Whitney was more of a victim of bullying by the administration then the bullying she supposedly perpetrated. Not on school property, not during school hours, via twitter, and very non-specific, not racial or prejudicial. Kind of guilt by association thing. However, when they tried to get her to blame it on a friend, she owned her words. Proud of her for that.

We did discuss the written word, retweeting on twitter, and the lack of personality and the fact that not everyone that reads it loves her. Hard to believe there are people who don't love this, isn't it?

I was so upset I took the afternoon off from work. I needed to talk to someone, and I chose the wrong person. They ended up dragging me down further. Really bad day. I walked around the mall in my sunglasses, unable to Christmas shop, crying my eyes out because of Whitney's situation, how to parent through it correctly, and the advice on other areas of my life that was unsolicited.

Several days later I did the same thing. A situation sent me mentally down a rotten path. As I was on my knees that evening praying and crying to God to just make it stop, he brought this verse to my memory

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

This verse has come to mind several times since then. It's a pretty simple formula for peace. Trust in God, keep your thoughts fixed on him.

I took my Christmas tree ornament that is simply the word "peace" in glitter and hung it on the refrigerator. I think I'm going to need to keep it in front of me for a while.

And Whitney? A three day suspension for bullying she doesn't feel she did? She isn't sad about missing school, doesn't feel bad about her words, and knows she is not a bully.

I have been the victim of bullying this year, and it's not fun. I really abhor mean girls. I have found out that they exist at all ages, and that it really speaks to something lacking inside them, not the person they are striking out at. It's so ugly. I don't want that for my daughter. Giving or receiving.

So hopefully Whitney did learn the lesson of being careful with her words.