We talked about bullies a couple of weeks back, when the Street Fighter video was being circulated on every computer from here to Sydney, Australia. The general consensus with bullying is that it inherently is a part of human instinct, and quite often, isn't as exclusive to children as we consider. The main question is, how can you deal with it, and avoid it from hurting your self-esteem?
This recently got my attention: a write-up which tells the story of a young girl who received an otoplasty to "pin back her ears."
"Cami Roselles...decided that her daughter should have otoplasty...She hopes this will keep other children from ridiculing her. The surgery will cost approximately $5,000 to $10,000 and is not covered by Roselles's insurance."
To begin with, imagine what you can do with ten thousand bucks. Put your kid to college for a year, perhaps two? Pay for medical bills for a couple of years? Put it towards 6 months rent? The list goes on and on.
Perhaps the most disturbing portion of this write-up is the fact that the mother is coming up with a major medical decision for her seven year old child, who is barely old enough to tie her own shoes, not to mention really know what plastic surgery is. To put it differently, she has no idea the gravity of the decision which is being made for her.
The mother thought that the surgery will help end the ridiculing her daughter was facing from "bullies." While I'm sure that her intentions were all good, her decisions, are certainly not. Let's think for a minute what her mom was trying to do. Her daughter had something that other children were making fun of, hence, she naturally attempted to stop them from making fun of it by literally removing it from her little girl.
Exactly what does this teach her child? In case you have something which people laugh at, that you must just eliminate it? What if you happen to be 3 feet tall and the little ones tease you since they could see over you? Let's say you have bad eyes and you need to wear eyeglasses? Would it be wrong to ask Mom and Dad for a 2,000 dollar eye surgery for Christmas?
The idea is, everybody is special, and that's what makes us great. Everyone is always going to look for something wrong with us, they're always going to attempt to put us down, but that is life. Every time that somebody attempts to put you down, never run away, make use of it as a chance to rise up for yourself. Yes, I am aware, that's much easier said than done. Running away (or having plastic surgery) will always be a lot easier. Yet there's a big difference between what is a lot easier as well as what is far better for us. One is more challenging compared to the other, but there's a reason for that...it's due to the fact that one makes us strong and the other makes us fragile.
The fact that someone doesn't like one thing about us, at the end of the day, it isn't our predicament...it's theirs. We are all unique and we're all different. The fact that someone attempts to take that away from us simply because we are unique is not bad. It's an opportunity to stand up for ourselves and to earn esteem. I had to spend quite a while to build that for myself, I didn't really try to escape, but I likewise didn't overlook it. Not until I was out of college did I realize that I didn't have to put up with it anymore.
What do you do when someone makes fun of you or challenges your identiity? You tell them one thing...
Okay.
"I don't like your ears, they stick out funny..."
Okay.
"You're too short..."
Okay.
Bullies are what they are because they are not often the brightest, or sharpest, tool in the shed. In case there's one thing they dread more than someone who is much bigger than them, it's somebody who sticks up for themselves, and most importantly, is not affected by anything they do.
I cannot help but react this way when I read the post. We are speaking about an absolutely healthy, apparently very clever as well as sweet seven year old girl, with ears that stick out...
Exactly why that is a problem is beyond me.
Like a many things nowadays, others will always try to consider the easy way out. The real question is, what exactly is it that we're trying to get out of?
It's just my point of view, let me know what you think in the comments below...
About the Author:
The Jace Hall Show is an online reality webseries which features video game news and personalities as well as interviews with film/tv/sports personalities. It likewise has posts that features anti-bully and understanding bullies.
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