Sameer was a shy eight-year old boy who was going to join a new school the next day. He was excited and nervous all at once.

The next morning he woke up even before the alarm clock went off. He got ready with great care and stood in front of the mirror, admiring himself.

When the bus came, his mother handed him his Superman lunchbox and told him, “I’ll come get you after school!”

Sameer waved goodbye to his mother and got on the bus. A boy came and sat down beside him and said, “Hi. Which class are you going to be in?”

“Class one.” Sameer replied.

Suddenly, the boy snatched his lunchbox and started laughing. He went back to his friends and told them loudly, “The baby carries a Superman lunch!” They opened the box and made fun of his peanut-butter and jam sandwich.

Everybody laughed. Sameer felt humiliated.

“Let’s throw it out of the window and see Superman get squashed,” one boy suggested. His suggestion was met by loud approval. The boy threw it out of the window, ignoring Sameer’s feeble protests.

The rest of Sameer’s day was equally bad. At school, if he was not teased for his glasses, he was teased for being a ‘baby’ or for his freckles. He wanted to tell his teacher, but he was scared of what the other children might do if they found out.

When Sameer reached home, his mother greeted him with a hug. “How was school?” she asked. Sameer mumbled that it had been fine. Then she asked him to take out his lunch box.

“It got stolen.” Sameer said in a small voice.

His mother didn’t say anything at the time. Sameer had lunch, took a shower and went for a nap.

Sameer’s mother called then called up Mina, her friend’s daughter, who also went to school in Sameer’s bus. Sameer’s mom asked her, “Do you know what happened to Sameer’s lunchbox today?”

“Yes aunty, a few boys in our bus threw it out of the window. Also, during recess, a few boys pushed him on the playground.”

The next day, Sameer’s mother went to his school when it was recess time and she saw him being pushed around by some of the older boys in his class. Calling one of them, she asked, “Why do you push Sameer?”

The boy replied, “Oh, we’re just playing. He’s a new boy, and we’re laughing and having fun.”

Sameer’s mother told him, “To you it may be fun, but have you thought how Sameer must be feeling? Put yourself in his shoes.

It’s not fun, because fun is only when both sides are enjoying it. To you, it’s a game. To him, it may mean the damage of a lifetime.”

The boy was very ashamed of what he had been doing, and he promised Sameer’s mother never to bully anyone ever again.

“Some people won’t be happy until they’ve pushed you to the ground. What you have to do is have the courage to stand your ground.” — Donna Schoenrock