what people say about us

Merle

time though when the young lady who chose Casey as her target separated Casey from her Crew She got the other girls to leave Casey sitting alone Even girls who hung out with Case outside of Crew would not speak to her in Crew Who wants to be I wanted to put in print the conversation we had on Saturday morning about the bullying that went on for Casey this year Integrity Martial Arts was a big reason why Casey got through it and never had to fight At Renaissance Casey’s school they have a program that involves Crew In some schools it would be homeroom but in Renaissance it is a productive time to talk about issues at school or at home do school projects community projects and just have a safe haven Casey’s crew became just the opposite environment for a big portion of the year As is the case in many 6th grade classrooms there was a bully She was a girl much larger than Case more my size She picked on her made fun of her etc Casey talked with me about it along the way She felt okay She has lots of friends at school She has lots of friends in Crew There was a period of the next target Periodically I asked if she wanted me step in No I can handle this And she did until the day that this particular bully upped the ante I had asked Casey what she would do if she was threatened with physical violence She knows there is a strict policy at her school Another honor-roll student had been suspended for raising a hand in retaliation Casey told me that she would let this girl know that she didn’t want to fight But she would also let her know that she would defend herself if she needed to and that she knew karate and would use it She said if someone tried to hit her she would block get her down and go get help I was okay with that until the girl waited for Casey hid behind a door and then swung it open into Casey’s arm Casey just stood there and stared her down She let her know she was not afraid Scott and I then made appointments with the school principal and Casey’s Crew teacher They couldn’t believe that we were concerned that Casey would be in the office for fighting We told them that if something didn’t change that we knew this would happen Now mind you they were already doing an intervention and we were grateful for that info We did need to convince them that Casey was no shrinking violet She is a fourth degree junior Black Belt and will use her skills to get out of a bad situation but would prefer to use her words We also went that day because we did see a change in Casey in her out-of-school life At the karate tournament she didn’t bring her A game to her first performance We talked after about what was wrong She felt like she couldn’t win She was defeating herself and we couldn’t allow that She did very well on her combinations after and she knew it and was proud of her performance and didn’t need a trophy just a feeling inside that we discussed on the way home As this all runs down to the end of this chapter Casey has made friends with her bully Crew is a pleasant time She worked through this and mostly on her own IMA has given her the confidence and the skills You’ve helped us to reinforce the messages to be a leader and that fighting is a last resort but that defending yourself and getting away are always allowed We thank you for being a part of the village who help raise Casey Coen