I really appreciate all of your comments and prayers sent up on our behalf regarding the last post.
The day after I posted regarding our concerns, the bullying boy told Mitchell that he was going to start treating him nicer and wants to be friends. I'm not holding my breath on this, but for now it's as good as it's going to get. Mitchell is no longer as uptight about the situation; I, however, still am not pleased. You see, this bullying boy has been a bother to Mitchell from the day we moved here.
The bullying I'm talking about isn't so much about physical violence as it is about emotional and mental torment (although there have been some physical attacks as well, several months ago). This boy "sets Mitchell up" for things he's actually responsible for, just so that Mitchell gets blamed. When Mitchell tries to defend himself, he appears to be a tattle-tale and this does not sit well with the teacher. The boy also has some sort of power over the rest of the boys in Mitchell's class, and therefore he has convinced all other potential friends that Mitchell is not worthy of belonging to their "group." It is all very complicated, but yet so real and hurtful.
My fear is that Mitchell is developing a low sense of self-worth and as much as we try to battle this with our own words of encouragement and praise, it seems like it's not enough. We tell our boys over and over that their worth is not found in what others think of them, but rather, in knowing how much God loves them and how special they are to Him. I'm not sure if the message is getting through. Good grief, it took me how many years to come to realize my own worth in Christ? Many years.
I know from personal experience what it is like to suffer socially at the hands of others, only to find out years later that those scars from childhood never go away. They remain with you and you have to make a deliberate choice to either let them paralyze you or shape you into the person God meant you to be.
My heart aches for my son.
The day after I posted regarding our concerns, the bullying boy told Mitchell that he was going to start treating him nicer and wants to be friends. I'm not holding my breath on this, but for now it's as good as it's going to get. Mitchell is no longer as uptight about the situation; I, however, still am not pleased. You see, this bullying boy has been a bother to Mitchell from the day we moved here.
The bullying I'm talking about isn't so much about physical violence as it is about emotional and mental torment (although there have been some physical attacks as well, several months ago). This boy "sets Mitchell up" for things he's actually responsible for, just so that Mitchell gets blamed. When Mitchell tries to defend himself, he appears to be a tattle-tale and this does not sit well with the teacher. The boy also has some sort of power over the rest of the boys in Mitchell's class, and therefore he has convinced all other potential friends that Mitchell is not worthy of belonging to their "group." It is all very complicated, but yet so real and hurtful.
My fear is that Mitchell is developing a low sense of self-worth and as much as we try to battle this with our own words of encouragement and praise, it seems like it's not enough. We tell our boys over and over that their worth is not found in what others think of them, but rather, in knowing how much God loves them and how special they are to Him. I'm not sure if the message is getting through. Good grief, it took me how many years to come to realize my own worth in Christ? Many years.
I know from personal experience what it is like to suffer socially at the hands of others, only to find out years later that those scars from childhood never go away. They remain with you and you have to make a deliberate choice to either let them paralyze you or shape you into the person God meant you to be.
My heart aches for my son.
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