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I love the underdog. I love the child who is unique from all the other children. The child who is picked on and made fun of for being different or not "normal" is likely the child who will go on in life to make changes in the world and influence others, unless of course they crack under the pressure and attempt to seek revenge through violence. In which case they will still have made a change, however disastrous and unfortunate.
What I want to know is why people feel the need to pick on others because of their differences. No person has the right to consider him- or herself superior to another, yet we do it all the time. And it's not a matter of "love thy neighbor," it's a matter of just being human. You don't have to love everybody, just be decent for a change.
So, what is normal? What is different?
Seems to me that these things are relative to your perception. If you don't understand relativity here is my dictionary's definition: A state of dependence in which the existence or significance of one entity is solely dependent on that of another.
Whether someone seems normal to you is totally dependent on your perception of what normal is. Therein lies the problem: everybody thinks they are normal, so anyone different from them must not be normal.
What brought this topic to my mind today, like many of my other observations, was music. Crash Test Dummies to be specific. Their popular hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" from 1993, was playing through my headphones and I was close to choked up (as always with songs about the plight of the young) when the singer sang:
Once there was this girl who wouldn't go and change
with the girls in the change room
And when they finally made her
They saw birthmarks all over her body
She couldn't quite explain it, they'd always just been there
Or the verse from "God Shuffled His Feet" that goes like this:
Once there was a boy who woke up with blue hair
To him it was a joy, 'till he ran out into the warm air
He thought of how his friends would come to see
Would they laugh or had he got some strange disease?
Kids always wonder what others are thinking, and some are more self-conscious than others. They have enough trouble dealing with the growing-up process without the added weight of mockery and ridicule from other children and yes, even parents.
There are extremes, and there are less severe cases, but think of how simple a change it would be if people could just be nice. Easier said than done, and I'm not going to examine all of the variables here.
For the child suffering through name-calling, bullying or other forms of abuse at the hands of your classmates and peers, take heart. Be who you are and know that you will be stronger for enduring this, and it will show in your life later on. But also know that there are limits and you must bring this abuse to the attention of a teacher or parent. Don't be afraid to tell, they'll get over it.
For the parents and teachers who see this kind of abuse taking place and don't intervene, step up and do what's right. Every child deserves a happy, fulfilling childhood, rich with new adventures and great experiences. Turn up the volume on good, and lower the gain on bad.
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