I need to avoid opening too many of these updates with a list of things that scared me in the past 24 hours. It’s not my mission. And in fact part of the point of all this is to stave off my own feelings of anxiety and whiplash. But. A new nuclear arms race? A Russian bromance progressing to the next level? Ugh, ugh, ugh. Save us, John McCain?
Happily, luckily, this blog really does help me (and I hope, at least by reminding me to continue to commit to, refine, and diversity my modest little bits of charity, it will help others).
Here’s what is absolutely buoying me right now. Seattle six grade girls have launched an anti-bullying campaign, according to King 5. And they’ve got a website. And it’s called D.C. Bully Busters! (Yes, the exclamation point is part of the name. Epic.). Their aim is get thousands of fellow girls and tweens to send letters to Congressional leaders, teaching (yes, teaching) them how to stand up to bullies in the halls of power.
Their rationale — and it’s hard to argue with this — is that as middle school girls, they know quite a lot about this topic. Their answer is that we must all recognize bullies for what they are, refuse to appease or join them (even when that feels like the path of least resistance), and report them to people who can stop it (like voters and elected officials).
And their explanation for why this matters? They put it pretty darn well themselves.
“This is important because bullies make you feel bad about yourself and what you believe in,” their website reads. “That is bad, especially in politics because if politicians get bullied out of their views and beliefs they cannot represent us as a people.”
Want more? Listen to Lola H. And take action by encouraging young women in your life to follow #dcbullybusters and their tips for writing and sharing a letter to Congress.
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