“Pick on someone your own size.”
Last week, me, V and S were sitting in the school bus minding our own business when P ma’am, our Principal stepped in, looked right at us and gave us this warning.
We knew immediately what or rather who she was talking about. J, is a boy in grade 3 who has been pestering us all year long. He sings annoying songs in our ear, listens in on all our top secret conversations and then blabs about it to everyone else. Plus, he has lost not one, not two, but three — that’s right, THREE — of my cricket balls. In fact, I’m pretty sure he threw the last one out of the window on purpose, and that it wasn’t an ‘accident’.
Anyway, J has had it in for us all year. He wanted to join our gang, but we have a ‘no kids below grade 5’ policy, and if I’m going to break that rule, then it’s going to be for my Pesky Brother, and not for some random kid on the school bus. Anyway, ever since we said “Thanks but no thanks” to his kind offer of becoming CEO of our gang, he’s decided to make our life miserable. We were nice about it at first, and didn’t say anything because he’s a kid and well, we have better things to do. But there comes a point when you can’t sit back and take the insults any more. Like when he calls your best friend ‘Chubs’ or calls you ‘Epic Fail’ because he saw the C+ you got in the last math test peeking out of your bag. When this kind of name calling happens, you have to retaliate. All we did was call him an idiot. Maybe numnut too.
First off
Now, this kid might be small but boy is he smart. He knows the number 1 rule of complaining. If you complain first, then people automatically believe you and not the other person. Teachers, especially! So he went and complained to P ma’am about how we were bullying him and picking on him. And hence the ‘Pick on your own size’ comment before the bus ride home.
I think teachers need to realise that it’s not just big kids who can be mean to little kids, or older kids who bully younger kids. Or that girls can’t be mean and beat up boys. Size and age and gender have nothing to do with it! Last year, P got beat up by a girl in his class and when he complained the teacher laughed and said, “We’ll speak to the little girl.” That’s not fair to boys or girls! Also, before they come and accuse someone of something, shouldn’t teachers try and get both sides of the story? You can’t tell kids not to believe fake news and then go ahead and believe it yourself!
Anyway, we’ve been banished to the last row of the school bus as punishment and J has to sit right in the front. Next to the teacher! Ha! I guess there’s justice after all!
