1 student, a female who I taught for 4 years, was real unhappy at our school. She was into theater, music and dance and had just a few close friends. She couldn't wait to get out of our school and get away from the town where she lived all her life. When she went to high school, she chose to go to a different school other than the one she was assigned to. The new school have a large theater department and a lot of like-minded students. Her mom teaches with me and XXXX came by the school a few weeks back. She is sooooooooo happy where she is now because she has found more acceptance. I used to be the only one that could or would talk to her about theater and Glee. We shared a common bond because we have season tickets to the local theater that puts on the touring Broadway shows in our area.

The other student is different. My guess is that he'll be the one we all look back on and say "yep, I pretty much knew he was gay back in middle school." But the kid was the smartest in his class. Last year he got moved up to 8th grade halfway through the year and still got some of the highest scores on his end-of-grade tests. He would get teased by his classmates often. And the group he moved up to were great kids. He was brutalizd by his 7th grade classmats.

But he and I talked quite often. In fact, none of the other kids wanted to hang out with him on our trip to D.C. last year, so he and I hung out together, a lot. And there were many time throughout the year when I had to say, "XXXX, it will get better. In a few years, you will be making boatloads of money while the kids who are teasing you will be asking you if you want fries with your meal." XXXX was also smug and knew he was smarter than everybody else, which was another reason the kids really didn't like. Heck, there were times I didn't like him. But I couldn't let that show. I had to keep reassuring him that things would get better when he got to high school.

I see his brother almost every day at school and see his mom on occasion. When I asked her how XXXX was doing, she said he is LOVING it. He found a good group of friends who accept him for what he is.

I share these 2 stories not to call attention to myself, because that is not my intention, nor do I need validation from anybody here (no offense folks) but rather to show people that all adults need to help kids and that, it does, in fact, get better as we get older and move on. And also to let the parents here know that their kids CAN talk to and trust their teachers. There are thousands of us out there that care and will listen. Please don't let them feel like they are all alone in this world. And PLEASE, whatever you do, talk to your kids about teasing and bullying other kids and let them know it is wrong.