I would like to know how my 13 year old daughter who is a very intelligent, creative, gifted pianist...blah blah blah...BUT "large" in stature can "learn" to ignore the bullies who make fun of her and don't want to be seen with her because she isn't a "barbie doll type?" She has tried over the years to "fit in" without much success. She now uses self-mutilation to relieve the stress of being without friends and has given up her "creative" side due to manic depression. She cares about everyone elses feelings. She just wants to be accepted for who she is. She wants the "bullies" to just leave her alone and let her be herself. She cries and asks, "Why can't the other kids just leave me alone? I used to like who I am, but it's just too hard to ignore the way the other kids treat me. If only they would stop making fun of me, I could be happy being me. I can't be anyone else, don't they know that I have feelings?" I have watched my daughter walk up to a group of kids that totally ignore her and then all walk away without even acknowledging her presence. How much can one child take before she "blows" up at rejection? You seem to have had the best of both worlds...self-esteem, intelligence, an outgoing personality and the ability to play sports well. Can you be so bold as to know the feelings inside a person who has had their self-esteem beaten to death? Can you imagine what it must be like for a shy person with an inability to "fit in?" No one but the rejected can know what it truly feels like to have no friends. It might be those of you who feel like you have the answer to success figured out that make it impossible for society to accept that we have to do something to help the kids that ARE "different." None of us should assume that we know what feelings lie deep within the kids that feel that they are "different," for in fact, they are. They know it...they just want to be accepted, not made fun of. Everyone needs to know that they are loved and respected, wanted and accepted. BTW, just by you calling "them" outcasts, you have put them into an undesirable category. Maybe you should re-think your opinion of "them" making things hard on themselves. Yes?
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I would like to know how my 13 year old daughter who is a very intelligent, creative, gifted pianist...blah blah blah...BUT "large" in stature can "learn" to ignore the bullies who make fun of her and don't want to be seen with her because she isn't a "barbie doll type?" She has tried over the years to "fit in" without much success. She now uses self-mutilation to relieve the stress of being without friends and has given up her "creative" side due to manic depression. She cares about everyone elses feelings. She just wants to be accepted for who she is. She wants the "bullies" to just leave her alone and let her be herself. She cries and asks, "Why can't the other kids just leave me alone? I used to like who I am, but it's just too hard to ignore the way the other kids treat me. If only they would stop making fun of me, I could be happy being me. I can't be anyone else, don't they know that I have feelings?"
I have watched my daughter walk up to a group of kids that totally ignore her and then all walk away without even acknowledging her presence. How much can one child take before she "blows" up at rejection?
You seem to have had the best of both worlds...self-esteem, intelligence, an outgoing personality and the ability to play sports well. Can you be so bold as to know the feelings inside a person who has had their self-esteem beaten to death? Can you imagine what it must be like for a shy person with an inability to "fit in?" No one but the rejected can know what it truly feels like to have no friends. It might be those of you who feel like you have the answer to success figured out that make it impossible for society to accept that we have to do something to help the kids that ARE "different." None of us should assume that we know what feelings lie deep within the kids that feel that they are "different," for in fact, they are. They know it...they just want to be accepted, not made fun of. Everyone needs to know that they are loved and respected, wanted and accepted.
BTW, just by you calling "them" outcasts, you have put them into an undesirable category. Maybe you should re-think your opinion of "them" making things hard on themselves. Yes?