Talking about inclusion today…..
Especially if you are the parent of a middle school girl.
What we’ve noticed since Callie has started middle school is an almost “quiet bullying.”
The girls are not overtly mean to Callie.
They don’t push her around or make mean comments.
Instead, they keep their circle closed.
They ignore her.
They don’t acknowledge that she is there or exists for that matter.
They act (and it absolutely breaks my heart to say this) quietly afraid of her and treat her like her disability is contagious.
They don’t include her in their circle even though she has known these girls since she was in elementary school.
So my plea to you is…..teach your girls to make their circle a horseshoe.
Where there is an open space for other girls to join.
Where they scoot over to make room for others.
Where they are curious instead of closed off.
Where they actively look to include others–the girls that look differently, think differently, pray differently, dress differently and have different life experiences than they do.
It means looking around the cafeteria for the person sitting alone–and going and talking to them.
It means putting down their phones and talking to the quiet girl that sits next to them in English.
It means moving from an exclusive mindset to inclusive mindset.
It means asking the new girl in class to go with everyone to the mall that weekend.
It means saying “You can sit with us.”
It means not excluding the little blonde girl with the rainbow print prosthetic leg who just simply wants to be included like everyone else.
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