Last week while driving home I heard about a self-defense seminar for girls, which I wrote about in my previous post. This week I happened to hear about a sleepover event for third through sixth grade girls who wish to learn how to assert themselves and stand up to bullies. The event, which is being hosted by Kadena Girl Scouts, has been motivated by a recent surge of bullying activity taking place at some of the DoDDS schools on Okinawa.  

Bullying certainly isn’t anything new, but I don’t think a whole lot has been done to help kids know what to do if they happen to become the victim of a bully. I wonder if perhaps it might also be a good idea to host seminars and workshops for parents; just a week or two ago a good friend happened to pour out her heart to me and tell me about her nine year old daughter who was being picked on by two other kids in their neighborhood. She had already given  the two other kids some friendly advice about ”being nice to others,” and that resulted in a prompt visit to her front door by the mothers of those two children. Needless to say it wasn’t a “How are you, nice to see you” type of visit. Fearing any further repercussions and unwanted confrontations, my friend was at a loss on how best to handle the situation and so she silently grieved for her daughter who continued to come home crying day after day.

Another bullying incident which came to my attention recently involves a young girl who is a high school freshman. My oldest daughter, who attends the same school, told me how this young girl made a mistake which she attempted to rectify, but which also caused her to be ostracized and harrassed at school. The girl had apparently experimented with some type of drug being circulated throughout the school, and was somehow caught and questioned by military police who asked her to give up the names of other kids using the same drugs. Feeling guilty, embarrassed, and pressured to cooperate, she obligingly “tattle-taled” on a number of other students who, in due time, were also picked up by military police. When it became known that this girl was the “rat” who gave up the names of other drug-using kids, she immediately became a target. My daughter described how one of her friends who felt sorry for this girl, invited her to sit with them during lunch a couple of weeks ago.  Soon after this girl sat down to eat with them, another group of girls approached their table and menacingly warned the girl to leave the table “or else!” My daughter and her friend were then yelled and cussed at for inviting the girl to sit with them; apparently the girl’s mother now picks her up during lunch break.

My heart goes out to all those kids who for whatever reason, are chosen by other kids as easy prey for bullying. I’m so thankful for organizations such as the Girl Scouts who recognize that bullying is an issue that needs to be addressed and dealt with, and I wish them all the best in their endeavor to teach young girls how to stand up for themselves in any type of bullying situation. If you’re the mother of a young girl, I encourage you to take advantage of programs such as that being offered by the Girl Scouts and other organizations, and if you happen to live on Okinawa and are interested in learning more about the sleepover event, please contact Kadena Girl Scouts at kadenagirlscouts@yahoo.com.