The dog days of summer are quickly coming to an end, and soon the sound of school bells (if we were back in my day) will be ringing. They’ll be marking a new school year for all of our youngsters, teenagers, and the teachers, paras, nurses office staff, counselors, coaches, maintenance personnel, bus drivers, administrators, School Boards, who work to make our educational system a positive experience for those students who are hopefully ready to begin another year in their respective designated classrooms of their schools.

We’ve already begun to hear the advertisements promoting “Back to School” sales in clothing stores, shoe stores, department stores, electronics stores, and school supply stores/departments and schools posting their classroom/teacher supply lists that give parents a chance to get out and grab what the kids, and their classrooms, will need for the upcoming school year.

These next few weeks are the preparation weeks, as parents make sure the kids are ready for this next chapter of their education life, but it is also preparation time for parents to do the sit-down talk with their kids on how to treat those whom they will deal with, interact with, work with, eat with, learn with, study with, play with and, hopefully, get along with these new next ten months of their lives.

Years ago, in the beginning years of the Voice from the Bullpen, I shared the lyrics from a song performed by Peter, Paul, and Mary titled “Don’t Laugh at Me,” which presents situations that are often seen, and/or heard, regarding how some people treat others in a bullying sort of way. It’s a song I often log onto YouTube to hear, as I think we all have felt the sting of words, actions, rumors, barbs, innuendos, gossip, and having been made fun of, and I/m sure we remember the hurt of any or all of those things, that often fell under the blanket of, “I/We was/were just kidding around,” or ” I/We didn’t mean anything by it.” How many times did we hear those words, and know that they were just a way to get away with someone hurting someone else for their own amusement?

A week or so ago, I was checking out my Facebook page and I caught a post that was directed to parents as to what they might say to their own kids in these weeks prior to the start of school to instill kindness and friendship in their own children, and how to treat others with whom they will come in contact in these next ten months and beyond. The post read, “Before school starts, just take five minutes. Not to label supplies, not to plan lunches, but to talk. Tell them it’s never okay to make fun of someone’s body, skin, clothes, or lunch. Remind them not every kid has new shoes, a clean outfit, or someone waiting at home. Let them know a quiet kid might be going through something big, that the school is for learning, not judging, that teasing isn’t harmless. Just five minutes. That’s it.”

Another one I came across read, “School is starting soon, and I need every parent to hear this. Remind your kids that it doesn’t matter if someone talks differently, walks differently, looks different, or learns differently. No child deserves to be picked on, ever.”

I love all types of movies and many favorites I tend to watch repeatedly when I come across them during my oft-frequent channel surfs. One of the comedies I love watching, and never get tired of doing so, is City Slickers with Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Bruno Kirby and Daniel Stern. As funny as the movie is, and as many times I’ve laughed until my sides hurt at the same spots, and have done so each time I have watched it, I am always moved by one particularly serious part of that film. It is when the two professional cowboys had too much to drink and attempted to make fools out of the participants of the Cattle Drive, to where, one of the more quiet and demure participants (Daniel Stern’s character), who often faced bullying in his past, was able to overtake one of the cowboys. In the scene, his character threatened the cowboy, while saying to everyone, “I’m not going to let them bully us anymore. My father-in-law was a bully. I hate bullies. Because bullies don’t just bully you, they take away your diginity. I hate that. I really hate that.”

Please don’t let your child take any other child’s dignity, or self-assurance, or confidence, or self-respect away from them. Reinforce the Golden Rule with your children. YouTube Peter, Paul, and Mary’s song more than once, and help your child make it a great school year for all the students, staff, and visitors in their school, and your own children too. Children, remember to respect each other, your teachers, your coaches, your advisors and counselors, your teammates, your opponents, your activity officials and/or judges, your supervisors, your drivers, your paras, your maintenance staff, the visitors to your schools, the property in and on which you are privileged to learn, and respect yourselves too. No one can make you misbehave, bully, hurt others, or disrespect others. You control you. You can be as nice as you want others to be to you, or you can choose to be mean. Choose nice! (Maybe we, as adults in any role or situation, could try it too.) You (and we too) won’t regret it!