A middle school classroom can be a recipe for disaster. As kids transition into teens, go through puberty, and start to come into their own, there are a lot of growing pains. Unfortunately, many of the struggles of coming of age include bullying. When young ones don't understand something, it can be their impulse to ridicule it. Without guidance, this bad habit can go unchecked and follow them into adulthood. For seventh-grader Trevor Harris, the conflict rings all too true.
Trevor, a military kid whose family moves a lot, knows exactly what it's like to be the odd man out and suffer for it. He has Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes tics like uncontrollable movements and verbal outbursts. Just when Trevor was finally being accepted by his peers, his family had to move from Tennessee to Virginia.
"When I was down there, kids understood my Tourette's and everything. But I come up here, no one understands me," he told CBS News. "In my first day, I got flipped off at least 15 times — literally."
But if you want to define Trevor by his condition, it's clear that would be a mistake. The resilient, compassionate, and clever kid wasn't going to go down without a fight. Instead of lashing out at his bullies or resenting them, he decided to show them what Tourette's really is like. He created a video for the entire school to watch. Even with his tics, Trevor is a pretty charismatic public speaker! Since the video, much of the bullying has subsided. Now when Trevor displays his tics in class like shaking his head, sticking out his tongue, or even shouting — most of his peers don't even flinch.
"It's been a major difference, but there's still some kids that don't understand," he said. "Everybody has a different flaw… It's just — why won't you accept me for me?"
Please SHARE if you believe Trevor teaches us a valuable lesson about understanding each other's differences!
