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25 May 2008 11:45 AM

Sticks and Stones ...

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can't hurt me. This is a childhood saying that we teach our kids because we want to teach them that just because someone says something nasty to them, they don't have to respond with fists or kicks or scratches. But words are powerful things, they can help and they can hurt.

The child who is labeled 'fatso' or 'four-eyes' is immediately singled out by classmates for being different. The difference doesn't have to be profound or even unusual, it just has to be different enough that the other kids can pick on it. I wore glasses as a child, I had terrible vision and I was called all sorts of names. I learned very quickly that I could be better at some things than others and so I made sure to excel in those things.

One area I excelled in was dance and the other was running. I could outrun most of the kids in my school in short bursts. I couldn't sustain for long distance running, but in short bursting races, I was fast. I may not have felt 'graceful' in my glasses, but when I danced and the world blurred around me, I felt exceptionally graceful.

Activity Helped

Being active kept me from feeling sorry for myself or buying into the words that my classmates bandied about. Even when they called me 'four-eyes' there was often a note other than derision in their voices. When a child is active, they may get hurt, they may scrape their knees, their elbows and bruises aren't that common, but that's all the stuff you see on the outside.

On the inside, kids feel accomplishment. They feel pride. They feel special, especially when the people they love recognize how they are doing and what they are doing. They want their parents to notice, they want their teachers to notice and they want their peers to notice. Physical activity benefits your child in more ways than just their weight.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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