“But, I’m not,” my eight-year-old self wanted to yell back.
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They didn’t know.
They were idiots.
The accent they were hearing wasn’t American. It was Scottish. You see, we’d not long moved down to England from a small town in Scotland.
And, I loved this new town and my new primary school. I’d easily made loads of friends, but there were still some idiots in the years above me – the same years as my older brothers – who enjoyed being able to jeer. To bully. To name call for no reason whatsoever.
They were calling me a yank.
Again.
I didn’t even know what a yank was until I asked my mum. I didn’t know or like that being half-American made me different … in a bad way. Something would always stop me from yelling back. Maybe it was because my mother raised me better than that or maybe it was because it just wasn’t worth it. Or, maybe it was because I was ill-prepared for that kind of bullying.
And, it’s one of the reasons I’m conflicted about moving my family back to Great Britain. I realise that we live in a more globally consience world than when I was a child, but the last thing I want is for my children to made to feel different. Like an outcast. Like they don’t belong.
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“Don’t you know?” I wanted to tell them. “I’m just like you.”
Interestingly enough I was going to write about a different type of bullying-you know the mean kind of almost teenage girl kind.
That must have really hurt since it came across on paper fresh as if it was yesterday.
Just imagine if they had called you a Devil Ray…
Sorry, baseball humor. It’s Spring. I can’t imagine the first time I have to deal with my son being bullied. Such an awful thought.
As insults go, it’s a bit of a strange one, huh? Which of course doesn’t stop it stinging when you’re that age (or any age, lets face it).
Kids will always find differences to point out. If it hadn’t been your accent, maybe it would have been your hair, or your clothes, or something else.
You can’t protect your children from that, no matter where they come from
Just teach them that difference is ok
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