My Walk to School

Fist punch.
Foot crunch.
Hand hit.
Mouth spit.
Eye swells.
Can’t see.
Please,
Please,
Let me be.

Rips my homework.
Steals my money.
Grabs my lunch.
Thinks it’s funny.

I won’t tell, I swear I won’t.
Please don’t do that. I said “Don’t!”

Sticks and stones may break my bones …
Sissy
Prissy
Four-eyes
Geek
Fatso
Schizo
Nerdy
Freak
… but names can really hurt.

Through the doors.
Up the stairs.
Face is bloody.
No one cares.

In the washroom.
Clean up the mess.
I’ll be safe
Until … recess.

by Andrea Wilson

Topics for discussion:

• Is the bully in the poem a boy or a girl? Which type of bullying do boys engage in more frequently? And girls?
• Everyone is familiar with the chant “Sticks and stones”. Do you agree that names can never hurt? What damage can name-calling do?
• Bullies take advantage of an imbalance of power between themselves and the victim. Discuss why a bully hits someone and what effect it has on him/her.

Classroom Activities:

• Brainstorm situations where an imbalance of power can lead to abuse. Put on skits to demonstrate those situations.
  Try using onomatopoeia to describe a scenario involving physical bullying.
• Pretend you come upon the child in the washroom at the end of the poem. What advice and/or assistance could you offer?
• Draw an abstract picture which depicts fear.