"It was a short and simple talk. I tried to take an unknown-Peter-and make him less frightening to these children. And over time, their natural goodness emerged. No longer an odd and scary boy, Peter became popular...The brightest and strongest children in his class took a special interest in him and their leadership made all the difference. They included him, protected him, and ultimately, provided therapeutic experiences that helped Peter catch up.

They were tolerant of his developmental problems, patient in correcting his social mistakes and nurturing in their interactions. These children provided many more positive therapeutic experiences than we ever could have given Peter.

...When children understand why someone behaves oddly, they give him or her more slack, generally. And the younger the children are, the more easily they are influenced by both obvious and subtle cues of rejection and acceptance from adults. These cues often set the tone for the children's status systems, and teachers and parents can either minimize bullying or unfortunately, maximize it, by either strongly discouraging or tolerating the scapegoating of those who are 'different.'"


okay legit crying rn ;~~~~~~;


also it's a later age range (jr high or high school) but when i volunteer with youth speak this is exactly what we're aiming to do and the response has always been overwhelmingly positive. he's spot on as well that children pick up cues about who's socially unacceptable from teachers.

reposting here bc i was one comment from the end and nonas were asking about it lql