Translated…
Lang told me, that her first grade son, Dodo awhile ago, because he’d bullied someone in his class, his teacher had called on him, and, as she rushed to school, that, was when she found out, that Dodo, being tall and strong, was playing sports with his classmates, and, as he was trying to get the ball, he accidentally pushed a weaker kid, and the kid fell and got injured; the parents felt that Dodo had bullied their son, told the teacher, that he had better handle the matter well, or, they are going to report the incident to the Department of Education. And, the teacher couldn’t come up with a viable solution, and so, she’d called Lang to the school, to find a way to resolve this, so the kids won’t get hurt.
Originally, it was only an accident that had happened when the kids were playing outside, but, how, did the parents of the other child turn the matter into bullying? I couldn’t help, but recall how when my daughter was in kindergarten in Japan, once, I’d gone to school to pick her up, and, she was pulling on a jump rope, and, on the other end of that jump rope, was a little Japanese boy, crawling, like a dog.
Back then, I was so shocked, I’d told my daughter “NO!”, that she shouldn’t pick on her classmate like that, but, the little boy had a confused look on his face, pulled on my daughter, said to her, “Let’s just do two more laps together, can we?”, my daughter smiled and told him all right, and I was, stunned, not knowing what I should do, I didn’t see the kindergarten teacher stopping the behaviors of the little boy and my daughter, and, another woman who came to pick up her child smiled, as she watched them in play.
After the two of them gone around two laps, the little boy happily told my daughter thanks, then, ran toward the woman turns out, that she is the little boy’s mom. I’d said an apology to her, but, I’d heard, instead, she, telling my daughter, thanks, for playing with her son. Could it be the differences in country? Or the differences in beliefs of the parents, causing this mismatched interpretation of events? My daughter told me, that before I showed up at the kindergarten, she’d acted as the dog, and allowed the little boy to take the lead, on a walk, she was, having a grand time too.
Dodo’s classmate’s parents, perhaps, they failed to consider that Dodo and their child was only getting into playing very much so, that neither one of the backed down, and the push and shove occurred, accidentally, how can they, just,, slap that label of “bullying” on the situation? And, perhaps, by so doing, they would cause the other kids in the class to not DARE play with their own son, because they wouldn’t want to get punished for it, then, who, is bullying whom? There are so many case of bullying on campus, but, before the parents stepped in to protect their own offspring, perhaps, they should analyze the situation more, and hear the kids out first.
So, the parents only watched what was happening in the moment, without knowing the entire story, and, they’d made up their minds about the other kid, bullying their son, like the writer’s own experience, watching her daughter, leading that other little boy in her kindergarten around the schoolyard like a dog, and, for the time being, it MAY look like the daughter is taking advantage of that other little boy, but, as the writer here later on figured out, the kids were only, playing a game, and, the two of them both had a lot of fun, that still just shows, how the parents should NOT butt in, to the children’s business, and, if you’d taught them well enough, I’m sure, that when they are actually being bullied, they will, come to you.
Life, the Obstacle Course 