"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," is probably the biggest lie ever told to young children. It's more like, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will last forever." At least that is my version of the saying.
Today, when my students walked in, I kindly introduced them to our new student, Bill Gary Wickenburg (named by the students). Before I even introduced our character lesson, within seconds, I had students making comments on Bill's appearance.
"Why is his shoulders uneven?"
"He has a big knee cap!"
"Why is he so tall?"
As soon as the comments began, I ripped away a piece of Bill Gary and handed his remains to the students that made the comments.
*No humans were harmed in the making of our lesson
My students were shocked!
"No! Don't hurt Gary!"
"His name is Bill..."
"No! Don't hurt Bill!"
Perfect, I had everyone's attention in a matter of seconds. I began with introducing the class to Bill; he was a new student who left his previous school from bullying. Although you can't see his hurt, he carries a lot of sadness with him. He came to our school in hopes of a fresh start. Unfortunately, almost immediately, he was being made fun of.
Everyone's eyes were on me and our student Bill. I continued....
You see, once the words are said, no matter if you get an apology, you can't take them back. Whether it is online, in a text, or face to face. We must be careful with what we say. Our words our powerful.
Now, it was up to the students to put Bill Gary back together. Equipped with "apologies" and 3 rolls of tape, students were reasonable for making a mends with our new student.
As you can imagine, it was hard trying to put back the piece to our blemished new student. After a few minutes of working together and trying different angles, they somewhat assembled Bill Gary Wickenburg back together.
We debriefed and had an open forum that followed. The biggest takeaway: Once we say something mean, that person will carry it with them forever; they will never be quite like themselves ever again. So watch what we say, and remember, our words are powerful. The scars we cause may never go away.
Side note: The students loved Bill Gary a lot actually. He hung out with our class for the entire day. He went outside during reading time with us and even PE.
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