By Barbara Gilmour, NJ Mom Squad Team.

I am seeing articles, posts, and news feeds daily about bullying, preventing bullying, anti-bullying, and every other way of mentioning bullying. One of the most compelling and uplifting articles was about one of the Harlem Globetrotters, Dizzy Grant.

Dizzy was participating in what was probably a very usual basic skills clinic with some middle/high school boys. He ran the usual drills and tricks with the kids, who thoroughly enjoyed themselves. What was unusual, was his anti-bullying message to the kids at the end.

The article didn’t divulge all of what he told the kids, but his basic message resonated with me. His message was: The ABC’s to combat bullying include Action, Bravery, and Compassion. This is a pretty simple message. When you break it down, there is a lot of content in those three words.
ABC’s of Combatting Bullying
Action involves standing up for someone being bullied, getting help for a victim, and not being afraid to challenge a kid who is bullying. It might mean stepping out of your own comfort zone, not caring what others think, and maybe even going against what everyone else is doing, or not doing.

Bravery comes in when you have to decide to help or not, to take that stand, to step in. Bravery is conquering your own fear of retaliation, of getting hurt, or of alienating others. Sometimes doing the right thing requires us to be brave enough to honor and respect the values we have been taught.

Compassion is the empathy we feel for another’s situation. Walking in someone else’s shoes helps us understand how it feels to be teased, picked on, or bullied. Compassion is treating everyone equally, even if different from us. It is having a kind, caring heart, with respect for all.

Action, Bravery, and Compassion; three words that if taught to our children at young ages, might just give them some much needed tools to help them reject bullying and being bullied.

Cool Kind Kid(C) Cool Kind Kid
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