Outrageous Behavior

Now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. . . . For you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed.

Colossians 3:8-10

OUTRAGE WAS SPARKED several years ago when a video surfaced online of a group of middle school students verbally berating a school bus monitor. These weren’t your average back-of-the-bus shenanigans, either. They weren’t making faces at passing vehicles. Their insults were merciless and vile.

How could they have been so completely cruel? Many people were so upset by the episode that a fund was started to send the monitor on a nice vacation—a fund that eventually exceeded $700,000. It’s quite possible that the fund became so large precisely because a lot of people know what it feels like to get picked on.

The school bus incident serves as a teachable moment if ever there was one. Obviously, it’s a prime example of how kids should not act—not because they might get caught but because being cruel to others is simply wrong. Who would want to be on the receiving end of a verbal barrage like that?

It’s not just children who can learn from this. Dads, how do you treat others in the presence of your children? Do you talk about other people behind their backs or maybe even insult them to their faces? Your kids are watching and listening. What kind of example are you setting for them?

BOTTOM LINE

Model and teach your kids to stand up for others who are being abused and to ask for help if they’re being bullied. It’s the right thing to do.

Moment of Strength: Deuteronomy 4:9