On Monday, October 17, 2022, Celebrate Kindness in Chalk to stand up to bullying with local blogger and Twin Cities mom– Nicki–of Minnemama Adventures.
October is National Bullying Awareness Month
Do you have a plan for the day your kid comes home from school crying because someone on the bus was threatening to punch him? Do you have a plan for the day you get a call from your child’s teacher saying, “Hayden was hurting his classmate”? Do you have a plan for building into your children without them become self centered or egotistical? I thought I did until my son came home crying because someone on the bus was being mean to him every day he was on the bus. We love that Nicki from Minnemama Adventures started Kindness in Chalk as a way to fight bullying with kindness.
Thankfully, when this happened to my son, he was in kindergarten when and his “bus pal” was also in kindergarten, so not much physical damage was done. But he was hurting emotionally and he was taking it out on everyone at home (understandably).
I have always wanted to teach my kids that they have value and worth. That what they say and do impacts the world. I want them to grow up showing love and knowing that every person in the school has value as well. That’s the easy part.
The hard part is when you have soft-hearted kids, it can be hard to teach them to stand up for themselves. We can start the process by teaching them to stand up for others. When they see someone being hurt, you can direct your kids to make sure their classmate is okay. When they see someone being bullied, we can teach our kids to say something in defense of the hurting. As they show kindness to others, they can learn that they are important in other’s lives and that they shouldn’t have to take it when people bully them either.
Kindness in Chalk
You may be asking why Family Fun Twin Cities is posting about bullying. And that’s a fair question. We wanted to let you know of an opportunity happening in October.
In 2014, fellow Twin Cities mom– Nicki–of Minnemama Adventures inadvertently started a campaign called Kindness in Chalk in honor of her brother. She has continued the annual tradition ever since.
Each October (National Bullying Awareness month) she is encourages everyone to participate in a creative way to stand by those who need to be shown love. Join schools all over the state and the country to take a stand against bullying by making your schools’ sidewalks and parking lots canvases of chalk art supporting kindness in the schools and around the world.
Who wants to join us? Go here to join the movement!