It is Sunday morning and I was not going to post at all today but something is on my mind. If anyone has started reading my blog from my first posting, they know how the name and my blog "Yo Mama is so fat" came to exist. It came about as me joking with my son about myself and my weight. My weight is something I have dealt with all my life. I haven't quite gotten my mind around why yet, but I am finding it to be very freeing to just come out and say I am fat and start dealing with it. I hope it stays that way for me and we will see. I am not sure how I came to this point to be able to do it. Maybe I will find out through this journey. I would like to talk about one thing today, however, because I am aware that the term or slang "Yo Mama" usually starts out with a derogatory remark.
I am talking about bullying. I was bullied as a child because of my weight. I was overweight by the time I was 8 years old. I had been skin and bones prior to that. I don't know how or why I started gaining weight but I did. I can tell you that my family moved to a very rural area from the suburbs of a large city just prior to me gaining my weight. I went from having many friends to play and run around with to having no one. I gained.
By the time I was in third grade, I was overweight and the bullying had started. The worst was in middle school. There were many days that I went home and cried or dreaded getting up and going to school the next day. This was back in 1965 so bullying is not a new phenomena as anyone who has been through it can attest.
Bullying can happen at any school, at anywhere. It does not just happen in inner city schools. Children are bullied for many reasons. It can be because of their weight, because of their skin color, because of their sexual orientation, their level of intelligence, because they smell bad, because of how they dress, or their religion. It can be for a host of other things. My own children have been bullied for different reasons. It is heartbreaking, as any parent would know who has had it happen to their children.
The type of work I do puts me in contact with many families who have adopted out of the foster care system. I hear, at least on a weekly basis, about children who were bullied at school for one reason or another.
It still happens. Back in 1965, I was probably one of few children who were overweight. I thought that possibly with the increase of childhood obesity that we are dealing with in this country that maybe an overweight child is more accepted by the others. I don't think so. I have heard from a friend about her child being teased.
I have to wonder what I might have gone through had there been email, kids having cell phones, and social networking sites. I wonder what kids are going through today.
The reason I am writing this post this morning is I am asking something of everyone today. Please, talk to your son, daughter, niece, nephew or grandchildren about bullying. I know that they are talking about it in the schools because my employer works with the anti bullying programs in the school system. Kids learning about this in school is not enough. They also need to hear it from their parents and mentors. My daughter and I have both talked to my grandson about it and will continue to talk to him. I know that there will be a child out there who would thank you if they could.
Love to all,
"Yo Mama"
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