10 Comments
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Jo Bisseker Barr's avatar

Beautiful. Everyone reading should pass this to two people they know! 🤩 This is the kind of learning we could be teaching in schools.

Parenting doesn’t come fully coloured in for everyone- but even the best parents would benefit from hearing sound words like these.

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Rita Symon's avatar

Such a perfect response which comforted me! And thank you Miss Wendy.

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Sarah’s Stack's avatar

As a nursery teacher I give my class lots of strategies to navigate over rambunctious play (I don’t think children this age are wired to ‘bully’) It’s great when you hear them standing up for themselves without an adult needing to intervene. We also teach children consent - stop means STOP.

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We are all born's avatar

I remember teaching my kids a similar strategy, in case they were ever at risk. It was a way to address my own anxieties about them being girls in the world. They were bemused at the time (early school years), but I felt a little better, and they (now in their 20's) have always been good with boundaries.

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Wendy Varley's avatar

Such good advice, and I’ve observed my young grandchildren using the ‘Stop’ sign in the way you describe, Philippa. I think they are being guided wisely by their school- and nursery- teachers. (And parents.) But it takes time to bed in, and you also have to know how to respond if it’s your own child doing the pushing. That can be equally tricky.

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Cheryl Emmanuel's avatar

Your response was lovely and Miss Wendy sounds like a real gem. From what I’ve observed badly dealt with bullying can have lifelong consequences for both the bully and the bullied.

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Christine Margaret Marsh's avatar

For God's sake, stop with the "let's call her/him ...". One phrase, "Names have been change," will suffice.

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Philippa Perry's avatar

You okay hun?

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Laura's avatar

Sigh. My daughter once said to my son, "Stop! I don't like that!" and my son said, "You're not supposed to like it."

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Philippa Perry's avatar

It’s not about having the last word, it’s about learning to stand up for yourself.

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