When I was a young child, I was teased for many reasons. I was teased at home and at school. I did not live in the neighborhood where other children played and walked to school together. I had buck teeth and was overweight. At home, I was the eldest and my mother was very hard on me. Her unhappiness spilled over onto me as I was an easy target. There was not an emotionally safe environment for me to learn about who I really was under the weight, beyond the braces and living on the boardwalk away from my school community.
I took the negative messages I heard with me into adulthood and have spent the better part of my life overcoming these voices and securing a healthy internal emotional world. I have worked diligently and consistently reading, attending workshops, therapy and building a viable support system.
Do not let your children internalize negative voices that demean and usurp their feelings of worth. One negative voice that is not addressed may set off an unending burden of thoughts that will affect your child over the years. That voice may come from a teacher, coach, grandparent, or sibling and if not replaced by a positive voice will ring true until there is one.
Today we call teasing bullying and it holds more weight and it is now getting national notice. However, all the programs have not stopped it and it is up to you, your child’s emotional guardian, to step up to the plate and stop those negative voices always!!!