Small Gestures, Big Impact

Normally, I write about business, the workplace or the marketing industry, but something in my life stopped me in my tracks. My niece told me she read my “How to Handle the Wicked Witch” blog post, and she told me she could relate. She told me that my blog post sounded a lot like middle school and what she was going through. Now, we all remember middle school, and we all know that kids are exceptionally cruel during that time. However, it broke my heart to hear that she was being made fun of or being bullied. We had a long talk about what had been happening to her, and after our conversation I thought about how lucky she is. She has amazing, supportive parents, friends and family who she can talk to about whatever hurts her, and every one of those people would go to bat for her if needed. I told her she was lucky and then I told her this story.

I was a very lucky kid. Yes, I was made fun of at times, but no more or less than any other average kid. When I was in high school, I was in a very small computational science class that consisted of maybe eight kids, two of which were girls. During the semester, the high school math teacher and the high school librarian, who taught the class, took the class to Iowa State University for a computational science event. Since the class was so small we could all fit in one van. If you know anything about Iowa State University you know that there are farm animals leading up to Ames that are used for educational purposes. As soon as one of the boys saw the cows he yelled, “Look! There is Kelly. Mooo!” Today, I can’t remember which boy yelled the statement, but what is burned into my brain is both of the teachers laughed. I was so embarrassed by the teachers’ laughter that I never told anyone…until now. I told my niece this story, because I wanted her to know that she should never be too embarrassed to tell her family anything, one day the cruelty of middle school will fade, and adults are not always right and kind.

I’m telling you this story, because I can’t tell you enough how much impact you have on the life of a young person. If you hear or observe teasing, taunting or bullying please don’t laugh, ignore or walk away. Please help! Your kind words, playing a game, watching a movie, helping them with their homework, going to their events or offering a listening ear can all have a momentous effect on the life of a young person.

Sometimes the smallest gestures make the biggest impact. You can make a difference, and you can make the world a little brighter.

 

Me (circa 1997, high school)