Picture Book Foreword

In our 21st century world, bullying travels through cyberspace via a comment on a Facebook wall, or a mean anonymous text. Educators are so preoccupied with teaching middle schoolers and high schoolers the dangers of hitting “send”, that often times, it’s forgotten that bullying happens on the playground just as much as it does online. People have forgotten how mean six year old girls can be, and how terrifyingly desperate you felt to fit in.

Having grown up in an inclusive and nurturing community, I was taught right from a young age to be accepting of all my peers. I was never the kid who wouldn’t let the other girls play. I was the one who was perfectly fine singing “backup” to all the alpha girls when we played High School Musical during recess, because I hadn’t seen the movie, but they knew Sharpay’s part by heart. When you’re younger, you have a sense of who “fits in” and who doesn’t, but as long as you weren’t an outsider, you saw no reason to care that much about it. However, as I got older, and I volunteered as a kindergarten lunch helper, the social groups, dictated by the top dogs of the class, became so much more apparent. Even the small things, like “your clothes are weird,” or “we don’t want her to sit with us,” shocked me, and made me realize: little girls can be mean. And often times, no one is stopping them.

A New York Times article about the subject of bullying in younger kids summarizes this point beautifully. Examples of students in 1st and second grade, sometimes even kindergarten, all demonstrate a kid who may have been different, or quirky; and a mean girl who started in on them from day one. The article states: “Mean girl behavior, typically referred to by professionals as relational or social aggression and by terrified parents as bullying, has existed for as long as there have been pony tails to pull and notes to pass(today’s insults are texted, instead.) But while the calculated round of cliquishness and exclusion used to set in over fifth-grade sleepover parties, warfare increasingly permeantes the early elementary school years.”

My hope for Ruby Robotic is that it can show younger kids that there doesn’t have to be a mean girl, or an alpha dog. I hope for all the kids who wear funky clothing, or are shy, or are learning english for the first time, or even don’t know the words to High School Musical, is this: stand up and stand out. Every day, kids feel pressured to do what’s cool, or fit in with everyone else. But, honestly. If Hello Kitty is what’s trending, but you’re more into Strawberry Shortcake, go for it. You’ll be glad you did. Trust me.