“You can’t give someone something you don’t have.” I always say this when I sing and speak at schools around the country through Hey U.G.L.Y. (Unique.Gifted.Lovable.You.- www.heyugly.org). If you’re angry, you most likely make the people around you angry. But if you fill yourself up with tons of love, you give tons of love to other people. This is the message that I want to get across to students and adults.
Bullying is a seemingly inevitable part of growing up. A child is having self-esteem issues, which could be a product of his environment or something going on internally that he is working through. That child spills his negative emotions onto the kid at school who appears to be weaker. The “weaker” child then begins to hate himself. He starts to believe the things that are being said about him. He starts to feel like the bully is right. This child begins to hurt himself every day. Then, he finds someone who appears weaker and takes out his self-hate on the next “weaker” guy. And so goes this domino effect. Bullying is the cause of bullying. So how do we stop it?
My take on this is that emotional awareness and self-love must grow and change parallel to the changes in our lives. If we don’t keep our awareness and feelings in check, we end up spending tons of time playing catch-up with ourselves. Therefore, as children are going through puberty, as their brains are being wired in relation to their environment, their awareness and acceptance of the given situations must do the same.
So what is it that we can do to make this a reality? Teach children empathy, teach children to ask themselves, “How am I feeling today?”. Teach children to accept and love their own dimensions. If we all had these key concepts ingrained in us as young children, we would collectively grow into a beautiful, nurturing, mentally stable society!
Recommended Reading: The Brain That Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. This book is all about neuroplasticity- the brain’s malleability, and supports my reasons for instilling emotional awareness and self-love in people from the beginning.
Please check out my music and projects at www.devynrush.com and www.youtube.com/devynrushmusic. Follow me on Twitter @DevynRush!
