If your child comes to you and says:

“Everyone is mean to me”
“This kid keeps embarrassing me”
“I don’t want to go anymore”

Please listen carefully.

Tweens and teens often do not have the emotional vocabulary to clearly say:
“I am being bullied.”

But they know when someone is hurting them.

Believe them.

I recently witnessed bullying within a High School baseball team.

At the start of the season, the coaches spoke to the players and parents about brotherhood. They told the team:

• Take care of one another
• Defend each other on and off the field
• Be brothers to one another

But not long into the season, it became clear that the Captain of the team was bullying another player.

Verbally. Physically.

Mostly in the locker room and on the bench.

The Captain- who was expected to lead and motivate the other players

And the rest of the team watched it happen.

Some tried quietly to defend him.
Some looked away.
Others laughed along.

The player being bullied tried to explain it to his parents—but like so many tweens and teens, he didn’t fully have the words to describe what was happening.

He only knew:

*Someone was making him feel small
*He felt humiliated
*He felt unsafe

After months of this, another player finally did something incredibly brave.
He told the Coach.

The Coach addressed the team about “zero tolerance” and benched the Captain for two games.

And then the bullying continued.

But now it expanded to include the player who spoke up.
The kid who did the right thing.
The kid who had the courage to protect someone else.

He became the new target.

And the Coaches did nothing.

They claimed they “weren’t aware” because they aren’t allowed in the locker room.

But this is exactly why adults MUST pay attention when kids speak up.

Because bullying thrives in environments where:

*Kids are afraid to report it
*Bystanders stay silent
*Adults minimize it
*Leadership looks away

This situation is heartbreaking on so many levels.

For the first player who was bullied.
For the second player who defended him and became bullied himself.
For the teammates forced to witness it every day.

And honestly… maybe most of all for the player doing the bullying.

Because children who repeatedly humiliate, intimidate, and hurt others are not “just being tough.”

Something is wrong.

And adults are failing all of these kids when they allow it to continue.

Sports are supposed to build character, leadership, and trust.

If a child cannot feel emotionally or physically safe within their own team… then the adults in charge are failing them.