"Man, I really hate bullies!"

Said Alden.
We were having a conversation at the snack table this afternoon.

Alden told everyone about some kids who picked on him during the vacation he took with his family during Spring break.

He met them at the pool and 'we hung out', he said.

Then, one of them broke his Nerf gun "For no reason at ALL!" He said, indignantly. "I didn't even do anything to them and they were just mean!"

We all talked a bit about the difference between a bully and a person who's just doing a mean thing.

Alden was quite adamant about how much he hates bullies. And mean people, too.
"It does matter if they're a bully or if they're mean, there is just no reason to be that way."

Everyone agreed, and stories were told about times people had been mean to them. They asked me if I had ever been bullied, and I told them no, not really, but that I had seen a lot of it while I was growing up.

I told them about Kenny Phillips. I said that I'd wondered over the years how Kenny was doing, and that I hope he grew up and was happy away from the mean kids he knew in our little town when I was a kid.

And after snack time was over, we lined up to go outside to play.
Molly* was standing in line in front of Alden. And for no reason, he reached out and slugged her on the arm. Wham!

She turned around and yelled in his face, "That was mean!!"

He looked embarrassed and defiant at the same time.

I let him know that when we got out to the playground, he would need to come talk with me before he could go play.

He did, too. We had our conversation, about five minutes worth.

I reminded him that hitting another person is not acceptable and that since he hit someone we'd have to talk to mom about it when she came to get him.

He was apologetic and seemed remorseful, but he's establishing a pattern of behavior that has me concerned. Obviously it's not helpful to keep things even during program time when someone starts hitting, especially for no reason.

It's also a concern because Alden, although physical and impulsive, doesn't usually just smack people.

So I'm definitely keeping an eye on things with him. And keeping my fingers crossed that he settles down a bit.