I recalled a personal experience of dealing with a bully while reading through a children's book recently.
For No Reason is a helpful picture book aimed at children between 6 to 8 years old. In it, the first-person protagonist is a girl bullied by a new boy in school. We discover how she deals with it.
Author Kathleen Might Gauer, talking about her book.
Reading this little book took me back in time to when I was being made fun of by a boy on our street. He took delight in making fun of my bicycle and ridiculed my name and my hair. Often, I just looked down and away, pretending I hadn't heard, or else I retreated to my house.
One day I told my grandmother about it, after she noticed my downcast face. She gave me some advice, which I decided to try, and it was this. She suggested that the next time this child behaved in a sarcastic manner, I should burst out laughing (even if I did not feel like it). I said that if I did this, he'd make even more fun of me. But my grandmother reassured me that the opposite would happen. 'Just try it," she said.
After considering this for a couple of days, I decided to put on a big act and laugh. And so, when the boy began yelling "Sheila the Peeler" and "Ew, stupid colour for a bike," I looked at him with an expression of bemusement and then burst out laughing. The look of shock on his face was priceless. His two friends stood by, waiting to see what would happen next. The boy tried again. "Sheila Big Wheeler." I laughed even harder, pointed to him and said "Oh, you're really something." I then mounted my bike and rode off, still laughing.
Sure enough, the taunts stopped. Wise words of wisdom from my grandmother.
In Kathleen Gauer's For No Reason, we see the two children become friends after the girl behaves in a similar manner to how I did. And this is why I know this book is a good one for bullied children. I know from personal experience that what transpires in it, can really work!
