Everything I Needed to Learn about Dealing with Bullies, I Learned from my 4 Year Old

Growing up, bullies were just a part of the day to day process and you either stood up to them or you suffered through it until you got home. I recognize that today, there are a lot more outlets for bullies and even as an adult I have had to deal with it. But my inspiration for moving past it has come from the best possible place, my 4 year old daughter.

When I started training for a half marathon, almost two years ago, I kept myself motivated by putting up a picture of myself after every run so I can remember how I felt and how far I had come. As the months went on, I started to receive messages from “trolls” / Online Anonymous Bullies, about how “Nobody cared what my fat-ass did” and “That I was always going to be fat, so just stop.” These were coming from people that I didn’t know, people who had found me through Social Media or Hashtags, people who only seemed interested in putting me down and nothing more. At first it didn’t bother me, but as it went on it started to take its toll.

One day, while talking to my wife about it, our daughter overheard the conversation and me saying the word “Bullying”. She asked a few questions, then asked me why I didn’t do what JoJo did? I had not know who JoJo was, and this opened a whole new world to me.

My daughter had been following the actions and advice of JoJo Siwa, or as she is known in our house, “JoJo with the BowBow”. JoJo had gotten her start on Dance Moms and then continued to build her brand and create a positive image for young girls to follow. In one of her songs “Boomerang” she talks specifically about bullying and how you need to “Not let the haters get their way.”

Seeing how my daughter was already affected positively by this message really made an impact on me. I know that my wife and I are working hard to be good role models, and provide a balance of praise and encouragement without sending her too far the other way, but knowing she has others to reinforce this message made us very happy. My daughter knows when someone is being bullied and knows what course of action to take. I have also witnessed first hand when someone is being negative towards her and she has looked them dead in the eye and said “Why you being mean?”, which usually gets the offender to stop.

It has been a while since I personally have been attacked like I was for running, but since then I have seen how my daughter has handled these situations and that has provided me with all the strength I need. Knowing that she won’t “Let the haters get their way” gives me hope that she will grow up to be a confident and strong woman who can and will do anything she wants.