This morning, I told my daughter a story.
Last night, she told me that one of the girls in color guard had said that she'd hurt her shoulder while practicing. This girl is suspected to have said this multiple times in the past just to get out of practicing, to the point where, last night, others were taunting her, saying Oh, yeah, Liz is hurt, right. This time, though, my daughter thinks that she actually did hurt herself, and might have been as injured by the taunts as by the physical injury. Being harassed by the color guard instructor -- one of the ones who isn't very talented at organizing and motivating -- seemed to be a source of pain, too.
My daughter felt that while Liz asked for it, she was getting unduly harassed. But what can we do? she asked. If we challenge the instructor, she'll just scream at us. And nobody outside of color guard really cares how it's run, as long as we win. (And frequently, not even then.)
So I told her the Code Pink story, which was one that I'd heard a while ago. It appeared that in a certain hospital, a couple of the male doctors were known for being domineering bullies who treated nurses, particularly inexperienced ones, as their personal vassals, and would scream at them for the slightest reason. The nurses didn't feel as if they could do anything, because the hospital administration gave the clear impression that they cared a lot more about keeping the doctors happy than the nurses. So these nurses came up with a plan. Whenever they saw a doctor abusing one of the nurses in a clearly unwarranted fashion, they'd call out Code Pink. At which point, all of the nurses in the area would stop what they were doing, turn, and stare at the doctor. Who, more often than not, would get flustered and leave.
It didn't solve the problem, but it ameliorated it.
But if we do that, my daughter said, they'll just yell at us. It's easier in a group, I said. Not easy. It's never easy to stand up to authority, even when you're sure you're right. And less so when you're not. But it's easier if the group has discussed it, and decided This is what we're going to do.
She said she'd think about it.
4 comments:
That's a great idea. I'm going to share it with my Daughter. We've got a new Cheerleading Coach this year.. who I understand isn't the easiest woman to deal with, and although I'll be at every practice.. this will give them an extra confidence.. if they need it.
Thank you!
Hope it works for her. Its a lot easier to say than to do.
It is difficult to stand up to authority - especially an overbearing one.
I did it as a teen, and the first couple of times it was difficult. After that, it was not only easier - it started to give me some real satisfaction!
That first go is the hardest. It does get easier after that.
We're talking teenage girls, here, and half are under 15. On the other hand, I personally would LOVE to see the color guard collectively say "Know what? We're going the hell home now. See you when you get your act together."
And then privately tell Liz to get HER act together.
Intellectually, I think that first part would be a bad way to handle things. Emotionally, though....
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