Today I made 2 kids cry. How was your day?

One of the reasons I always wanted to be a teacher, was due to my experiences with bullying at school. I had some fantastic teachers who helped me through it, and really supported me; and I always thought if I could do the same for other kids, I would be happy.

Today I got my chance, and it wasn't exactly how I pictured it.

I was teaching today, dealing with the usual stuff- getting the kids to stop talking, reminding them to take off their hats, and telling a boy up the back not to throw paper balls at a girl a few seats away- (let's call her Kate). I got them settled and got them to begin working when I noticed the girl was crying. I took her outside, and asked her if everything was okay. She told me that the boy who had been throwing paper at her and another boy had been bullying her- apparently since last October. They had been saying things and reduced her to tears just now.

I was not impressed. I loathe bullying and I won't tolerate it. So, I went back into the classroom, called the kids to a stop and proceeded to give them a furious lecture on the long-term psychological effects of bullying- speaking from experience. I told them how it affects people for the rest of their lives, the things people say to and about them; and told them that I wouldn't tolerate it in my classroom.

There was not a sound after that.

A few minutes later, when they were getting back to work, one of the girls (a girl who I'm usually nagging constantly to stop talking and get back on task) was in tears. One of her friends brought it to the attention of everyone, and she laughed as she wiped her eyes and explained that she was teary because when I was speaking about my experiences "it's so sad and I feel bad."

Then one of the boys who had been bullying Kate came up to me and asked if he could apologise to her. I said yes, and he did so.
When all the kids were finishing their work, two other boys near the front of the room thanked me for saying something and for doing something about it.

After class, I got two of my best students in the class to take care of Kate for me, just to support her and give her some support.
When I got back to the staffroom, two of the boys came up to me, who were about to go into the classroom next door. One of them, (who I shall call Fred), seemed a bit teary. I asked if he was okay, and he told me that what I had said meant a lot to him because he had been bullied too, and really related to what I had said. He ended up in tears too.

When I was alone in the staffroom, that got me crying. Because Kate and Fred are both really sweet kids, and I wanted to do more to help them. Plus, I had really only just held it together when I was talking about it in class, and talking about brings back unhappy memories and feelings.

I wrote up the two boys who had been bullying Kate in our discipline system (and crying), and took them down to the office. Outside Kate and the two girls I had asked to look after her were waiting to meet with the Welfare teacher, and they saw I had been crying and asked if I was ok. I spoke to them for a while, and one of them said to me, "I can't believe you were ever bullied, because you're amazing."

Well, that made my day. I just laughed and said "Not when I was 12, I wasn't."

But I think I really got through to them. I had so many of them talk to me in the playground for the rest of today. We'll just see if the message sticks.

So that was my day. I made 2 kids cry. How was your day?