Understanding of Effective Communication

          Understanding of Effective Communication  

           

          I was at my art table working diligently on my art project at my Elementary school. I had just skipped third grade and I was into my first week of 4th. We were making some arts and crafts and I was very occupied in my work. Our art teacher put a set of supplies on the table, and we were told to share them. I reached for the pair of scissors sitting on the table. I did not realize that another girl at the table also reached for the scissors simultaneously. She was shy, so she did not say anything, instead patiently waited for me to finish. The person next to her said, "That was very mean of you Jayashree! You know she is older than you!" Since I skipped a grade, I was the youngest one in our class. This girl took advantage of that and continuously tried to pull me down. I became very frustrated with her. I said, "Well first of all, this is none of your business. Second of all, I did not know that she was reaching for the scissors at the same time." I continued with my work, and so the girl gave me a dirty look and turned away. That day in Social Studies class, our teacher chose groups for us. I got stuck in the group with the bully. She said, "You go first, then you and then you. Jayashree can go last because she is the youngest." I became very pissed off and irritated. I told her that, "Just because I am the youngest does not mean that I have to go last. I am now in 4th grade just like all of you." The rest of the people in my group supported what I was saying, so the bully could not say anything more.The next day, I sat at a different table and made new friends. They did not pull me down just because of my age. I was able to have a much more pleasant conversation with this group of girls.

        I think that this method of simply staying away from the bully is useful because I ran into no further problems, and it was a positive outcome for both of us. I stopped getting bullied, and the bully no longer bothered me because she was cognizant that I was not going to put up with her.