When the kids came into the first class after the holidays, they were all excited to share what they had done while on vacation from school. As Ms. Gilmour greeted each she asked, “I know you want to share the fun things you did over the holidays, but let’s talk about the things you did to be ‘Cool Kind Kids.’”
Tanner was first to share, “I helped my grandparents get presents wrapped because they aren’t able to do as much now.” Nicole said, “My family put together boxes of food for needy families in our church.” Carmen shared, ”I did that with my Girl Scout troop.” As each child shared, the others were cheering and giving high fives.
Rudy was waving his hand, “My Boy Scout troop visited men in our local Veterans Home and took them cards that we made.” Everyone thought that was a great, cool and kind thing to do. Stephen was excited to share, “My mom had everyone in my family go through toys and other stuff that we don’t use, to donate to needy families. At first I didn’t want to do it, but when we went as a family to the donation center and saw how many families needed things, I felt like I was doing something important to help others.” The kids all cheered for Stephen.
Truman the Dragon was thinking about all that had been shared when he said, “I think what everyone did was great. My family got together with other dragon families and we prepared and served meals to the people in our homeless shelter. We wanted to show them that even dragons can be kind, caring and cool.” Ms. Gilmour said, “That’s great, Truman, you definitely showed that we are all the same, even though we may not all look the same.”
Next, Ms. Gilmour asked, “It’s a new year now, and what do you think we can do to extend the kind, caring spirit of the holidays?” Truman was first, “We can show everyone that we are all the same, just as you just said.” Nicole added, “Let’s challenge all kids to keep doing kind, caring and cool things for others.” Rudy stated, “Let’s ask kids, ‘Are you COOL enough to be KIND?’” Carmen looked at him and said, “Sometimes we get picked on at school when we are kind.” So Tanner stood up and said, “Just tell those kids that ‘kind is cool, and unkind is uncool.’” All kids joined him and yelled, “Kind is Cool! and Unkind is Uncool!”
Stephen spoke up and said, “Let’s challenge them to, “Be TOUGH enough to be KIND!” Nicole added, “Too many kids think being unkind or bullying is sooooo cool! We need to help them learn that those are so uncool!” Ms. Gilmour asked, “How can The Golden Rule help here?” Tanner said, “Great idea! We can challenge them to treat others the same way they want to be treated.” Everyone high-fived each other as they said, “Good-bye.”
(C) Cool Kind Kid
Note to Parents from Ms. Gilmour:
Bullying is the #2 epidemic in the U.S. In addition to these Cool Kind Kid articles, we endeavor to provide up-to-date research, articles and other news on this topic on our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/coolkindkid.We post Barbara’s Anti-Bullying Tips on Mondays, Tanner’s Tuesday Tips, Cool Kind Kid Challenger Tips on Thursdays, and Oliver’s Tips for Kids on Fridays. We also post Shocking Sunday Stats to keep this issue in the forefront of people’s minds. We’d love to post stories and photos of your kids being Cool Kind Kids, and how you have successfully dealt with bullying. To send photos and stories, and give your permission to post, go to: info@coolkindkid.com.
