Dread

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

10 Aug 2011 11:47 PM

Four words you never want to hear your 6-year-old utter: "Mommy, what's Dr. Phil?"

I wish the question had been prompted by a random commercial for the daytime talk show, but alas, that would be too easy.

No, my daughter's query about the man, who implores millions of people to "get real," had nothing to do with an errant encounter with a TV ad and everything to do with a run-in with a socially "mature" 7-year-old on the school playground.

"Where did you hear about Dr. Phil?" I asked, trying hard to hide the panic in my voice.

"Ella," my daughter replied. "At recess she asked me if I wanted to play Dr. Phil. What's Dr. Phil?"

"He's from TV," I answered quickly. "How do you play Dr. Phil?"

"I don't know, but Ella says she gets to be Dr. Phil and I'm the one she gets to yell at."

"She yelled at you?" I asked, minus the attempt to hide my alarm.

"Mommy, Ella yells at everyone," my daughter replied flatly. "She's a mean girl."

Dread.

Oh, how I dread back-to-school.

It's so much easier to preserve my kid's innocence when she's not being invited to play a galvanized member of the Dr. Phil club.

I dread seeing my daughter's hermetically sealed bubble dissolve into oblivion thanks to kids who wield their advanced social power (a.k.a. unsupervised TV viewing) for no good.

Okay, maybe I am being a bit dramatic. And by dramatic I mean honest.

The Dr. Phil incident was just one of many "mean girl" incidents that my daughter experienced last school year, and while I am hopeful that this year will be different given the school's new anti-bullying policy, deep down I doubt that much will change.

I am especially pessimistic after reading a new study about an increase in preschool bullying. Apparently, mean girls (and boys) are sharpening their tongues earlier than ever before. Their cutting remarks and cruel pranks are no longer the stuff of legends, but a fact of life in and around the preschool sandbox.

According to researchers, who examined the socialization of preschoolers in select metropolitan areas, kids as young as three are banding together to exclude their peers in an effort to make them cry.

It's no wonder that by the time these pint-sized predators get to first grade they are already well-versed in forming cliques, shouting, taunting and slamming the most vulnerable among them.

Dread.

Related Articles:

Is Your Child a Bully?

Study Shows Most Bullied Kids are Overweight

Bullying may be a good reason to homeschool

When the Teacher is the Bully

Is Your Toddler Destined to be a Troublemaker?

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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