When we say that the issues are in the tissues, which I got from Chopra, what that means is that the experiences of childhood linger and build the nerve synapses, which even in adulthood, are the culprit for low self esteem, depression, waiting for the other shoe to drop, etc..
When we are children we receive messages from adults, and it is not all our parents. It can be a teacher at school. Many people complain about the political correctness of today, but the political correctness, when it comes to kids, is correct, and that is why this is the new humanity blog. Putting down, ridicule, belittling, and more, do not belong in a civilized society any more than guns, rape or any other violence. Words can be as cruel, if not more so, than any slap in the face.
When I was in junior high, middle school they call it now, a tender thirteen year old, in formative years and puberty, only having begun menses a year before, I had a home economics teacher who liked to put me down in front of the class. I am not exaggerating. I am by no means stupid, and yes I did chores at home, but she would constantly say, in front of the other girls, that I did not know how to sweep the floor. I dreaded her telling me to, because I knew she would sit there all smug, and criticize, in front of the other girls. I showed my family and friends how I sweep at home, when at home, to see what I was doing wrong. No one could see anything wrong with the way I used a broom.
Okay, but it gets worse. I am in English class, and two girls say to me, "Mrs. Rabon showed everyone how you sewed the pocket shut on your apron. She said to everyone that it was you, and everyone laughed."
I yelled at the two girls, "that's not right! That is not funny!"
I applaud myself now for saying the truth, but the sad part is that as we become adults, as small as you might think this is, and believe me, this is not at all the worst of my childhood, by any means, the things that make us feel 'less than' are ingrained in our nerve synapses and transferred to the brain as feelings of being inferior, 'less than,' and ultimately we are stuck with low self esteem, all through adulthood, relationships, marriage, college, motherhood, work, career, everything, and not all in that order, and this sense of being unworthy and less than is like a great burden.
So, you might ask me now, what do we do? Well, we can get therapy or work on strengthening ourselves now, but what can we do about this not happening to our own children? We need to get teachers like Mrs. Rabon out of the school system. Teachers like her should be fired. This is a form of mental and emotional child abuse, and very serious. This type of abusive, immature behavior, on the part of a teacher, belittling and putting down a child of thirteen in front of her peers, whether she is present or absent, is not acceptable. As Dr. Phil would say, "this is completely unacceptable." A grown woman should know better.
Just remember all the times in your adult life, you felt stupid or ugly or less than, the chances are great, that someone like a teacher, who you may have even looked up to, as I did Mrs. Rabon, will be what tears you down.
In the new humanity, in a new society, we do not have room for this. There is a Whitney Houston song, The Greatest Love of All, and it says, 'I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside, give them a sense of pride, to make it easier, let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be...' Do not stifle the children. I was a teacher, and I know they do not have it easier at home either. Let school be a wonderful place, full of joy and praise and love. That is my advice as a teacher. Yes, discipline has a place, too, but not ridicule, contempt, and mean spirited cruelty. A child is precious, and so beautiful, too delicate for a world of meanness and thoughtlessness.
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