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From: Pamela Mertz
Date: 10 Oct 2012
Time: 19:08:51 -0500
Remote Name: 67.248.49.228
Hi Megan, I think for young children who might be teased or bullied, the most important thing is for them to KNOW that teasing is hurtful, wrong and unacceptable. They need to know that there are adults who will support them and agree with them that teasing is wrong. Gone are the days when adults can say that teasing is OK, because that's how you learn to be tough or they went through it themselves as kids, and its like a rite of passage. Adults need to talk to kids, at the youngest age possible, and let kids know that differences make a person unique and it is not OK for other kids to make fun of them. And for kids who stutter - it is so important to talk about the stuttering. Don't make it some taboo topic that no one talks about - because then the young child won't feel comfortable telling an adult that other kids are making fun of them. I also recommend having older kids. teens or adults who stutter talk to young kids in school - let children know that stuttering is a different way of talking, normalize it, so the child who stutters will not feel ashamed to reach out and tell or ask for help. We as adults must create a safe environment for kids - stuttering or not - so they will want to come and talk to us before teasing becomes bullying and before it gets out of hand. I did not have an open, supportive environment as a child, so I never would have dreamed telling my parents other kids were making fun of me,a s we never, ever talked about it. Safe environments create trust, and that is the basis for helping young kids deal with teasing. ~Pam