She Wondered Why Her Bully Did Not Like Her

Summary

A teenage boy befriends a young girl who is being bullied at a family gathering, offering her companionship and understanding.

Abstract

At a family reunion, a teenage boy meets a six-year-old girl who is often left alone due to being bullied at school. The girl, who is a minority in her rural community and is targeted for her different appearance, confides in the boy about her struggles with bullying, including her friends being pressured to abandon their friendship with her. The boy, who has never experienced bullying himself, empathizes with the girl's situation and realizes the impact of such behavior. Although aware that their encounter is likely a one-time event, he decides to be a friend to her during the gathering, hoping to ease her pain and that she will find true friends when school resumes.

Opinions

The teenage boy feels compassion for the little girl, recognizing her isolation and the injustice of her being bullied.
The girl's bully is seen as someone who deliberately alienates her from potential friends, exacerbating her loneliness.
The boy's perspective on bullying changes as he learns about the girl's experiences, having never faced such treatment himself.
The narrative suggests that even brief acts of kindness, such as the boy's decision to spend time with the girl, can have a positive impact on someone's life.
The author implies that the girl's ethnicity and appearance contribute to her being bullied, highlighting issues of diversity and acceptance in her community.
The article concludes with a hopeful outlook, emphasizing the importance of friendship and support in overcoming adversity like bullying.

The little girl needed a friend

The small girl was bullied at her school

It was a sort of mini family reunion where the young teenage boy met the little girl. She had finished kindergarten and would be a first grader in the fall. She lived in another state. There were no other teenagers there so he befriended the little girl who was sitting alone in the backyard of the home where the family gathering was held. The teenager had not met most of the relatives prior to that, and the girl did not know many people there either.

The boy felt sorry for the little girl who was by herself. The two started to talk. The boy decided to keep her company for a while.

“I wanted to be a fashion designer when I grow up,” the little girl said.

“Okay,” the teenager answered.

“But now I don’t know what I wanna do,” she then said.

“That’s cool,” the boy replied.

The conversation continued for the while, and then the girl said:

“You know–my bully–she tells my friends that if they wanted to be friends with her, they can’t be friends with me.”

Those words made the young boy pay more attention to what the girl was saying. He was sorry for her to be bullied. She called the girl who bullied her, “My bully.” That seemed strange to the boy.

While they were chatting, the boy began to understand her more. She was just a six-year-old girl. She talked like one. She acted like one. She also had to endure the hardships of being one.

The little girl lived in a fairly rural area where she was definitely a minority. Her skin was a little darker than any of the other children in her school and neighborhood. She looked different than they did. The one girl who was called “My Bully” had taken it upon herself to be mean to the little girl. It was hard for the little girl to understand why she had to have a bully.

The teenage boy then realized that he had never been bullied. He had a lot of friends. He had been teased, but he had never experienced mean behavior against him which would equate to being bullied. He now knew what it was like because the little girl had experienced it. She told him the pain she felt and how hard it was to have a bully.

The boy knew it was unlikely that he would see her again after that day. They were distant relatives, and this was the first time they had ever seen each other. Their paths might never cross again. Life could bring them together again at some future time, but it was not likely.

For the moment, he knew what she needed. He could be a friend to her for a short time and try to alleviate some of the pain she felt. He hoped she could find some good friends when school began again in the fall, and he hoped she would not be bullied.