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I’ve always been different. While many girls and women growing up in the 1960s and ’70s found freedom by shedding their nylons and pulling on pants, I was coordinating my dresses and bows. I’ve never felt the need to assimilate, to be like all of the others. I am at my best when I am true to myself.
Perhaps that’s why as a student at Ann Arbor’s Pittsfield Elementary School I was often taunted and teased. Oh, yeah, I was even beat up one day on the playground.
I don’t remember much about it, except that school officials and my parents handled the situation, and I continued to feel loved and protected. (The photo to the left was taken around the time the incident happened when I was an 8 year-old 3rd grader.)
An 11 year-old Saline boy suffered seizure-like symptoms and lost consciousness after he was bullied on the playground at Heritage Elementary School last month, and now seven of his fellow students may be charged with assault. The incident seems to be related to an on-going dispute between the victim and others in his class. Read more here.
Why do kids bully? We know that childhood bullying peaks between ages 6 to 9. Dr. Julie Lumeng, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital, says obese children have higher odds of being bullied no matter their gender, race, family socioeconomic status, school demographic profile, social skills or academic achievement. “Physicians who care for obese children should consider the role that being bullied is playing in the child’s well-being,” stresses Lumeng. Listen to my conversation with her Read the full story » | Past Blog Entries
When a child has a birthday usually the presents get them most excited. While that’s true for Elizabeth Young, a 7th grader from South Arbor Academy, Elizabeth’s excitement stems from much more altruistic motives.
When she was in 4th grade Elizabeth came up with the idea to have her friends bring items for Hope Medical Clinic instead of gifts for herself. Her act of kindness didn’t stop there. Since then she has also organized a baby drive at her church that turned into Hope being the central distribution point for baby formula in Ypsilanti. She came up with the idea for a Valentine’s Day Dance at her church as a fundraiser for Hope. She plants fresh vegetables in her garden for Hope’s Food Bank, and sorts, stocks, packs, and distributes the food.
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Producers Majeda Hussein, Krystle Weiss, & Bridget Bodnar