Mean Girls...

Mood:  trying to take the high road...

Okay so I only saw the movie once...but I did enjoy Mean Girls.  I didn't think it lived up to all the hype but I did think it made some incredibly valid points and that it was overall an enjoyable movie.  Funny...smart...and it had a great moral.

And if you haven't seen the movie then here's the lesson:  girls are horrible to each other.  We tear each other down, we criticize, we hate...and all it does is hurt.  It hurts those we act out against and it hurts us.  Of course, it's not just girls that bully girls or girls bullying boys.  Literally everyone is being bullied and bullying and it's enough to make me cry.  Honestly, I've shed countless tears for all the kids that feel hurt and victimized or that feel so bad about themselves that they need to tear others down.  Bullying is a serious epidemic facing this country.  Children are dying because we can't teach them to be nice to each other.  And why can't we do that?  Because WE can't be nice to each other.  Read some status updates from your Facebook page from yesterday about the election and results and you'll see how quickly we judge and tear down.  

A large part of my feeling called to Christian Education is that I feel like I can make a difference.  If I can show by example that you can be positive and find the good in people (it's always there somewhere...) and not be horrible to one another...then hopefully they'll carry that lesson on to somebody else in their life.  But here's where I get stuck.  High school kids are MEAN.  They were mean when I went to school...and I certainly wasn't the most popular...but I did somehow win Best Personality in a high school class of over 500...so I'm not going to pretend that I had it super bad.  But elementary years were not fun...I was suicidal in 5th grade.  And I've been in some form of therapy ever since I was 10 years old.

In the last couple of days one of today's popular female stars (Demi Lovato of Disney fame) checked into treatment for an eating disorder and cutting as a result of her trauma.  And I pray that she receives applause and encouragement for realizing at 18 that she needed help.  Most people never get the courage needed to say "I NEED HELP."  I fear though...it will go something like "suicidal Disney star is no longer fit for stardom and is horrible role model teaching kids to cut themselves."  Because that's what we do as a society.

This blog is mine...but I don't intend for it to be a soapbox.  I honestly just want to do small, nice things for myself daily so that I'm a little happier and the world around me is a little happier.  So today, knowing I was going to be faced with mean high school kids who won't give me the time of day...I wore a sweater with my message for them.  If they won't listen to me say it...or hear it in the words I do speak...then at least they'll read it on my shirt.

And even if it looks like something a "3rd grader would wear" (yes that was a comment from one of the youth)...I know it was read.  And someday...I pray that they know love.  From me.  From each other.  And I hope they learn to give love.  Hate needs to stop.  We cannot continue to tear each other down.  I'm not saying politics is eventually going to be like a great big family picnic...or that religious debates will one day end without wars...but I am sincerely hoping that we all learn to love and respect life enough to be tolerant, loving, and compassionate.  Not just to our neighbors...but ourselves as well.