It
was probably seventh or eighth grade. The school was huge. Salem
Junior High in Virginia Beach, Virginia. There were lots and lots of
children at that school. I was one in a huge bunch. I was fine with
that.
Except
when it came time to depart. Finding the bus was, sometimes, a
challenge to say the least. It could also be pretty scarry.
I
think this particular incident happened on one of the first few days
of school... when it's difficult to know where, exactly, the bus I'm
supposed to ride is going to be in the lineup. There were, at least,
twenty buses in two rows, lined up in the bus lane.
I
thought I'd been through the lane once, but didn't find my bus. I
was beginning to feel anxious. If I missed the bus, who knows how
long it would take my Mom to come get me. It's not like I'm the only
child she was awaiting to return from school. She'd have to wait for
the others before she could come to pick me up.
As
I worried, I sped up a little.
But
then the announcement came that all children must board their buses
because they would begin departure within 60 seconds. I started to
run.
Running
did not come easily to me. I was ungangly. I felt fat as all heck
and definitely did not have good cardiovascular fitness.
Then
it came. The cowardly bully's anonymous call: "Watch out!
She's going to cause an earthquake!"
One
might suggest that there's no way I could know that the statement had
to do with me. However, I do know it did. How? Well, it was made
into the middle of the row of buses and I was THE ONLY child in that
area as far as I could see in front of and behind me. Believe me, I
checked.
My
head and heart hurt. Was I really THAT fat? I mean, nobody running
could cause and earthquake!
And
then someone else: Yeah! An elephant's trying to run! (or something
similar)
Children
are often cruel. When grouped together in the way that they are in
public school, children are often even more cruel than they would
attempt to be otherwise.
This
is one of the reasons homeschooling, when I realized I could consider
it as an option for my own children, was/is so very attractive to me.
Find out more in the story about why I chose homeschooling.
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