Level Two. Conventional.
Level Two. Conventional.
By Michelle Lloyd.
Little Herbert had tried hard to learn what had been at the heart of the problems he had endured at school. It had been a difficult time that had once seen Little Herbert bullied and it had caused him to feel quite embarrassed.
Even though it had been explained to him that bullying was not anything for him to feel embarrassed about, still it had been an emotional response to what had gone on. It was almost impossible to now think back to how bad a time it had been. It had been a short while that had seen him without the firm friendship of his two pals New One and R V. A time when Little Herbert’s family life had been the cause of him to consider what conventional families were and meant.
Little Herbert had long appreciated that he had one parent, his Dad. Even at a young age he had learnt that he was not in the same situation as many of his friends who had two parents but he felt loved and looked after and to be honest he had not thought that much about it. It was not until a certain classmate had decided that two, for them, was better than one that it became a real problem.
Conventional to Little Herbert now meant many things, it ultimately meant what was right for you and it did not have to be a certain way to be acceptable as life itself was varied. At the time of the bullying he had not been as clear about it all and he had felt like the insults and shaming were what he had to endure.
Home Time had become an ordeal for Little Herbert as it was at that particular moment that the classmate would make it obvious how he felt about his two parents being able to get him and how much others, meaning him, would have been missing out on. It was not how he felt but Little Herbert started to believe that maybe he was at a disadvantage and started to get confused about how this made him feel.
He was upset that his situation was not easy to understand and while he was a bit angry that his Dad did not know why he was so sad, he was also annoyed at himself for being put out with his parent. He had been happy and not a care had he until the bullying made him reconsider what he knew to be true.
As in many instances of bullying Little Herbert kept quiet about it and he buried his feelings deep down within himself. After a while his teacher had noticed his lack of enthusiasm in class and his quietness but despite trying to get him to talk, Little Herbert would not let it out. He felt ashamed and in the wrong, even though every time he looked at the one who was bullying him he knew that he was the one who had a problem that needed to be resolved.
Little Herbert told no one and it finally took his very understanding Dad to tell him about his own experience of bullying at his school for him to break and tell all. It was with his Dad’s help and the teacher’s advice that Little Herbert got through his bullying experience and a class on what conventional could mean gave many of his classmates a lot to think about.
R V, New One and Little Herbert stood in a three in front of their class and it was with their help that once again, further down the line, one experience could be used to ensure that bullying was not a means for anyone else to feel isolated or different. Acceptance could be felt in many forms and Little Herbert felt privileged to have learnt this life lesson.