Back To School

I've been talking with my boys a lot the last few days about how to "be Jesus" to their classmates. Being kind and respectful, yes, but also being an advocate for those who get left out or picked on.

Last year one of my boys had the sad opportunity to walk with a classmate through the death of a parent. I was proud of how my guy stood by his friend, listened to his silliness (I guess when you're 9 being super-silly is a grief response?), and did a good job of being there for the friend. Just before school started this year, we found out that the friend was switching schools because of all the taunting he got after his father's passing. Wow. He called to say goodbye to Piers, and said that some kids going into third and fourth grade were saying some horrible things to him, and that he thought it would be better to go somewhere where no one knew he didn't have a dad. Wow.

I plan to have a conversation with the principal. Maybe she's aware of the situation (the bullying--I know she knew about the death) but I really feel that we as a school need to do some talking about how to deal with a situation like this.

This morning yet another friend posted a status that included the line "Be kind. Everyone is fighting a battle." This is so true, and so very much what we are called to do. May God give us all the grace to "be Jesus" to the people we come into contact with each day.