Here's the thing : with all due respect, guys, I don't think you're always equipped to figure things out on your own.
Sometimes, there's a lot of unnecessary meanness that happen while you're trying to sort who you want to be, who your friends are, who your friends are not.
Adults spend a lot of time talking about bullying in school these days, but the real problem isn't as obvious as one kid throwing a Slurpee in another kid's face.
It's about social isolation.
It's about cruel jokes.
It's about the way kids treat one another.
I've seen it with my own eyes, how old friends can turn against each other.
It seems, sometimes, that it's not enough for them to go their separate ways - they literally have to "ice" their old buddies out to prove to their new friends that they're no longer still friends.
That's the kind of stuff I don't find acceptable.
Fine, don't be friends anymore : but stay kind about it.
Be respectful.
Is that too much to ask?
- The Sandbox Virtues by R.J. Palacio