You reap what you sow

A story from New York State has dominated the news lately: a bus monitor was taunted to the point of tears by some young teenagers, who taped the bullying and posted the video. A Canadian viewer was so appalled that he created a campaign to donate money for the woman to go on vacation. One version of the story can be found here. Funds donated have grown exponentially. An interesting follow-up to this story: the four 13-year-old boys that actively participated in the verbal assault are now themselves targets of death threats and have to have police protection. I neither watched the original video (because I knew that the scene would upset me too much), nor do I condone sending death threats to the perpetrators, but it seems the old adage applies: you reap what you sow.

The next three stories will be deliberately "vagueified" to protect the identities of those involved, but the end message is the same as the above extreme example.

At an elementary school with which I am familiar, a particularly troublesome student was not allowed to play a key role in the end-of-the-year talent show because his/her behaviour did not merit this sort of reward. From what I understand, this pre-teen has been rather disrespectful, and unjustifiably so, to his/her peers and teachers. None of the consequences given for the child's actions prior to this seemed to make a dent or difference in his/her conduct, but this denied privilege may have an impact. You reap what you sow.

This is the season for graduation celebrations. At another elementary school I know, they had their graduation ceremony last week at a banquet hall, and afterwards, there was a dinner and dance. To keep the students from becoming bored or restless before the dancing began, there was a post-dinner activity with prizes to be won: each table had to choose a favourite or memorable moment from the school year and act it out for everyone present, with the table of teachers determining the winning group. When it came time for the presentations, three out of the four tables performed scenes in which they recounted how a particular teacher interacted with them. For the majority of the adult viewers, it was a very clear message. It was reported that the teacher in question did not interpret the performances in the same way that the rest of the table did, unless the teacher's external reaction covered up the actual reaction.If true, that would be a shame because it could have been a valuable lesson learned. You reap what you sow.

And finally, a personal recount. I noticed on Saturday that Dolly, my daughter's pet bunny, was running low on food, so I went into her cage to fill it up and Dolly scratched and bit me! I read online later that rabbits can be very territorial about their cage and it is best to refill bowls when they are outside their cage getting their exercise, but I was pretty mad at her for a while and don't plan on giving her extra treats if I can help it. You reap what you sow - oh wait, I think the more appropriate saying for this incident is "don't bite the hand that feeds you".