My 6-Year-Old Son Who Thought Excitement Was Cruelty
"MAMA, I THINK I'M A BULLY" What I Learned When My 6-Year-Old Confused Reading Aloud With Cruelty He climbed into my bed at 6:40am on a Wednesday. Not unusual. My son is six. He still believes morning cuddles are a human right. But his face stopped me. Not sleepy. Not whiny. Not hunting for my phone to watch something. Ashamed. "Mama," he whispered into my shoulder. "I think I'm a bully." Fourteen years as an educator. Hundreds of bullying cases. Countless parent meetings. Behaviour policies. Restorative justice training. And my own child just diagnosed himself as the villain. "Why do you think that, habibi?" "Because yesterday at story time, I read louder than everyone. And the teacher said my voice was too loud. And she looked tired. And I kept being loud anyway." He pulled the duvet over his head. "I bullied my teacher, Mama." THE GAP BETWEEN INTENTION AND LANGUAGE Here's what my son meant : "I was exci...