Never underestimate the power of a public service announcement.
One recent evening, Sydney was playing with Gus when, as is often the case, the four-legged member of the duo got a little too wild. Sydney's whining/crying was enough to get me involved. I pulled them apart and scolded, "Gus, are you being a bully?"
Sydney, without missing a beat, responded, "We should visit bully dot com."
"What's bully.com?" I asked.
Sydney recited what was no doubt the next copy line in the commercial, "Speak up against bullies."
Of course I had to tell Jeff the story. AJ happened to overhear and quickly corrected/expanded on what Sydney had told me.
"Stopbullyingspeakup.com," AJ said, "Help stop bullying. Speak up. If you know somebody that's bullied, then you can help them."
I checked out the website. It's a project of (and good P-R move by) the Cartoon Network. The whole incident has me wondering if I should say "Wow!" or "Whoa!" I'm hoping that bullying isn't an issue yet for kids their age. Have times changed that much? Or am I letting my kids watch cartoons geared for a slightly older audience.
Hopefully, if ever faced with a real bullying situation, they'll recognize it. Because, assuming they do, they're now aware of how to respond.
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