Values and Choices

Think about a time you witnessed bullying/ostracism/peer pressure/exclusion/discrimination/violence. How did you respond? How do you wish you had responded? What stopped you from responding that way?

'Can I borrow some stickers too?' I had desperately asked at the age of 9 during lunch in Ms. Ludeman's third grade class. 'NO' Isabella Sullivan replied. Although it might not have been the worst scenario of bullying, the girls in my 3rd grade class had definetly made an impact on my life. A group of about ten girls had been trading stickers, dying to be 'in' with their group I tried to trade stickers with them. To start I simply asked, 'Can I borrow some stickers too?' Then I was shut down with a simple but productive 'No.'


I responded in an extremely bitter way, ready to yell in their faces. I wish I had reacted in a nicer way like my mum had told me to. I remember her telling me, 'When other kids are mean to you, respond to them in a nice way because that is what would make you proud.' Then she read me the Bible verse Proverbs 25:21-22. 'If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.' I wish I would have responded in a more honorable way to be able to do what the Lord says in the verse above. What stopped me from doing that is the hatred that I had stored in my heart and my unwillingness to forgive those girls.