It’s awful to find kids playing and then see that they’re excluding someone. It truly irks me and I have a need to get involved. As a parent I try to teach my kids to treat everyone fairly, even when their peers are not being so fair. Spring is coming and we’ll be hitting the playground more and more so I decided to revisit one of our old Berenstain Bear books, No Girls Allowed. I love this book. Now it’s not just about boys vs. girls, it’s about treating our friends with kindness. Not excluding people, and not boasting.

Brother bear and his friends get tired of sister tagging around (and beating them in sports). See, she’s not the most gracious winner. They decide to create a club out at Frog Pond…the Bear Country Boys Club: No Girls Allowed. It’s just awful. Poor Sister bear is crushed.

It’s a great book to engage a discussion about feelings. To place them in Sister bear’s shoes. To place them in Brother bear’s shoes. How would they react to being with a group of friends that want to exclude someone? Would they stand up for the poor friend who’s being treated unfairly? I put my boys in that scenario tonight using names of students in their classes. I’m proud to say that they both told me they would tell their very good friends that they’re not being nice. Now let’s just hope that when they are put in that situation in real life, which I’m sure will happen, that they have the same reaction.