Girl Drama

It never fails that, each year, my school has a group of girls (grade 3 or 4) who cause girl drama!  I'm sure you would agree that it occurs in every school.  It normally starts with one girl who reports that one of her friends "isn't talking to me."  We talk about it, she says that she feels sad, and we plan to meet up after she has expressed her feelings to the other girl.  From that moment on, it seems that girls are "being mean to me" every day.  And then I reflect upon my own childhood...

The girls crack up when I tell them that I was, myself, a mean girl in the 5th grade.  I got pulled into the relational aggression (but we called it the "let's exclude" club).  I didn't have a counselor at my school, and the teacher was, I guess, too busy to even notice what was happening to this poor girl.  We were so mean to her, and we chose not to talk to her and even created an club that was geared at making fun on her.  Looking back, what we did was pretty minor, but it was still mean. 

Back to present day, I remind the girls that "being a girl is hard work."  The girls tell me that boys "have it easier," because they "are just mean for a day, maybe hit each other, and then make up."  Girls, on the other hand, harbor negative feelings about each other until they decide to just let it go.  I also remind the girls that, even as a 32-year-old, girl drama still exists into adulthood.  The best way to deal with it is to a) find at least one friend who will forever be loyal and b) learn the tools to be assertive.  I know...easier said than done, and I will have to admit to not always expressing my feelings assertively.  BUT, all of us girls know that drama will exist, but we can only learn to communicate our feelings to stand up for our beliefs!!!  You go, girl!!