Story by Nancy Battista Morgan
Illustrations by Holly Bell
Ramon Sticks up for Himself
A story about Bullying
Ramon was new at school. He didn’t know any of the other children.
Ramon hoped he could make friends with the children. But the first day, during center time, Arlene pinched him. “Get out of my way,” she said.
At snack time, Ramon looked around for a friendly face.
“Looks like you’ve got more than I do,” said Randi. Ramon blinked back his tears, but he didn’t say anything.
“He has funny hair,” Rebecca whispered to Maria. Ramon heard her, but didn’t say anything.
No one played with Ramon all morning. He was lonely, but he didn’t say anything.
At recess, none of the children picked Ramon to be on their team. “Go away, Ramon,” said Jamal. “Don’t you know when you’re not wanted? We don’t want to play with you!”
But this time, Ramon said something. “STOP BEING MEAN TO ME,” he yelled. “IT’S NOT NICE! I may be the new kid, but I’m just the same as you.”
And the other children felt bad about how they had treated Ramon, because they knew he was right. They knew they wouldn’t like it if someone acted towards them the way they acted towards Ramon.
They stopped being mean to Ramon, and included him in their games. They got to know him, and they liked him and always wanted to play with him. That’s when they understood that they were all different, but they could still be friends. And they said, “We’re sorry we were mean to you, Ramon!”