Respect Means No Bullying or Name-Calling

Transcription

1 Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth L. Hamilton All Rights Reserved. Respect Preparation Lesson 3 of 4 Respect Means No Bullying or Name-Calling (Anti-bullying-and-name-calling Lesson) Scripture: You shall honor the face of an old man. Leviticus 19:32 Have with you the character wall as well as pictures from Lessons #1 and #2. Print one copy each of pages 4, 5, and 6 of this lesson on cardstock. Print one copy of the attached age-appropriate activity sheets for each child. Review Begin by showing your character wall. Say: Let s do some more work on the wall for your character fort. Remember, we need this fort to keep us safe from evil. This month we are working on which block? Respect! Hold up the pictures from Lessons #1 and #2, reading the captions. Say: In our lessons so far, we talked about how to show respect to people we like people we think will like us right back. Introducing New Lesson Say: Today we re going to learn how to show respect to people we do NOT like very much people that do NOT like us very much. Let s see how we can show that they have value. Tell this story in your own words, changing it to fit your listeners if necessary. Emma and Joshua were at the park. Joshua kept following Emma, pushing her hard whenever he got close. You re a bully, Emma told Joshua, running to try to get away. You re stupid! Joshua yelled after her. He caught Emma s arm and twisted it. When she yelled, Joshua let go and smiled. Then he started chanting, Emma s a stupid baby. Emma s a stupid baby. That evening, Emma told Dad and Mom about Joshua. Joshua hits me and calls me names every day, she said. I don t like him! He s a big bully. Today he called me stupid! He said I was a stupid baby! Dad looked very gloomy and said, That s so sad that Joshua made you a stupid baby. No! Emma exclaimed. Joshua didn t MAKE me a stupid baby; he CALLED me a stupid baby! Dad acted surprised. Oh, Joshua didn t CHANGE you? You re still the Emma that left here this morning? Emma frowned as Dad continued. Joshua can CALL you a stupid baby, but he can t MAKE you a stupid baby, Dad explained. Names never change you into something you are not. They never take away your value. The next time he calls you a name, smile at him.

2 Emma shook her head. But I don t like to be called stupid and I don t like him hitting me! Dad nodded. That s why you must think about your value. Joshua doesn t want to show that you have value. When he knows he can hit you and call you names to make you angry, he keeps on doing it. If he gets a smile in return, he may stop. Respect yourself and look for value in Joshua, too. Respect Joshua.... The next evening, Dad announced that Emma and Joshua would be taking martial arts classes. Joshua s dad agrees with me that you need to learn to value each other, Dad said. We think martial arts classes will help. Before the week was over, Joshua and Emma put on white suits that looked a lot like pajamas. In bare feet, they joined other boys and girls on the mats, and they began learning self-defense. At first, Joshua still bullied Emma. When the instructor wasn t looking, he squeezed her wrist as hard as he could. He made it look as though he was doing what the instructor said to do, but it hurt. When they were sitting at the side of the room, Joshua whispered that Emma was a stupid baby. Emma tried to smile. She knew names didn t change her, but she still didn t like them. Emma tried to ignore Joshua when he hurt her, too, but it wasn t easy. She didn t like Joshua very much, she thought. Then she started thinking something else. She started thinking about Joshua s value. She started looking for his value. One day when Joshua squeezed her wrist hard, she looked right into his face and said, You re worth too much to have to do that, Joshua. Joshua looked surprised and let go of her wrist. Later, when Joshua whispered that Emma was stupid, she smiled and told him, I can live with stupid, I guess. But wow! You re one of the world s smart people! Joshua didn t stop bullying everyone overnight not at all. It took many weeks, but he did stop hurting Emma. He stopped calling her names, too. Joshua and Emma never became good friends, but they learned to show one another s value by the way they treated each other, and after awhile, Joshua stopped bullying completely. Bible Story: II Kings, 2:23-24 God tells us about some bullies in the Bible. These bullies had no respect for old people, but God says we are to honor old people. So let s see what God did to punish these bullies for their lack of respect. First, I want you to close your eyes and imagine the old man in the story. First, imagine his clothing. Dress him in a rough, dark robe that reaches all the way from his neck to his feet. Put sandals on his feet. Put a big walking stick in his hand to help him walk on rough roads. Now give the old man a big beard, since men in his country all had big beards. Make the beard white to show that he is old. Last make the old man bald. Open your eyes. We don t know for sure how this man looked, since there were no cameras when he lived on earth, but maybe he looked a little like this. Hold up the Page 6 picture. This is Elisha. He was a prophet and he was bald. One day, a group of 42 big boys were loafing around their town when they heard that Elisha, the prophet was passing. Prophets were like preachers, and this gang didn t like preachers. They didn t like listening to preachers, and they didn t think preachers had much value.

3 I imagine one of the 42 guys might have said, Hey, let s have some fun with the old man. Let s mock his preaching and praying maybe mock the way he walks. Let s yell names at him. The others agreed, laughing They followed the old prophet Elisha. Maybe one big boy moaned, Oh, my back hurts so bad. The others would have laughed. Walk on your heels and save your soul! one of them might have yelled. Finally, they began calling Elisha names. Go up, old baldhead! Go up, old baldhead! What they meant was, Go up to Heaven. Get out of here, stupid old man old, bald geezer! They should have known better. They should have known what God told them: You shall honor, or respect, the face of an old man. God meant that you should show respect to everyone who is old. These boys did not show respect at all. Go up, old baldhead! Suddenly, Elisha turned, looked at them, and prayed loudly for God to punish them. Bam! Before the bullies could say baldhead again, two bears come roaring from the woods. The bears ran straight at the young men. Can you imagine how they yelled?! They weren t saying, old baldhead now. They were screaming for help! They were trying to run away! God s punishment was coming straight at them, and they couldn t get away! The bears were angry so angry that they tore up all 42 of the gang. Then God sent the bears away. Imagine! 42 young people didn t go home that evening 42 young people didn t sit down to eat 42 young people didn t sleep in their beds. Families cried and funeral music played as 42 bodies were put in graves. God commands us to respect old people. God hates disrespect. He hears name-calling and he hates it. He will punish it. He doesn t always use bears, but He will always punish those who do not practice respect. Apply the two stories in age appropriate words. Hold up the picture of the children in martial arts gear and read, Respect never bullies. You don t try to damage games that you value. You take good care of them. Other people have value, and you should not damage them either. You should not hurt them, even if you don t like them very much. Bullying does not show that others have value and guess what? Bullying does not show that you yourself have value, either. Those who respect others never bully and those who respect themselves never bully Hold up the picture of the boy yelling and read, Respect never calls names. When you value something, you don t say bad things about it. Do you value money? Most of us do. If someone gave you a lot of money, you wouldn t call the money stupid. When you know that other people have value, you will not call them bad names, even if you don t like them very much. Name-calling does not show that others have value and guess what? Name-calling does not show that you yourself have value, either. Respect for others never uses name-calling and respect for yourself never allows you to use name-calling. Hold up the picture representing Elisha and read, Respect never makes fun of older people. God values older people, and he tells you to value them, too. That s a command from God, and we must obey it. There s more to the command listen: "You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. Remember always to respect old men and women. Do it because God said so. Close by handing out assignment sheets.

4 Respect Never Bullies

5 Respect Never Calls Names

6 Respect Never Makes Fun of Older People

7 First and Last Name: I show that you have value even if I do not like you very much. In today s story, Emma learned ways to respect someone who did not like her. Pick at least 1 of the 5 things below, and tell how it would show respect. Write on the back of this page. You may get someone to help you. Tell an adult why you should respect old people. Remain calm and don t try to fight back. Don t get angry at the other person. Look right into the other person s face. Don t call the other person bad names or use bad words. Surprise the other person by smiling and saying something like Emma said: I can live with stupid, I guess. But wow! You re one of the world smart people! After you have finished writing, color the picture on this page. Write your verse on the back. Christian Character-Trait-of-the-Month Program Respect #3 Ages 3 to 7 Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth L Hamilton For more information, visit

8 First and Last Name: In the blue box below, make a poster showing how to treat someone that is old. We ve given you the title. You make the picture to show respect. On the back of the page, write a story that explains what s happening on your poster. I show that you have value even if you are an old person. Christian Character-Trait-of-the-Month Program Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth L Hamilton Respect #3 Ages 7 and up For more information, visit