What do you do when faced with bullies? If you're Caitlin Prater-Haacke, you kill them with kindness, that's what. When the high school student from Alberta had her locker busted open and her iPad hijacked, the offenders posted a status urging Caitlin to, in so many words, die.
I can only imagine the sick feeling this kind of cyber-bullying would cause. And as a teen I would have, alternatively, a) curled up in a ball and refused to leave my room or b) begged my parents to let me transfer schools. But I wasn't the kind of young woman that Caitlin clearly is.
The teen met the taunts with unbridled positivity, penning various compliments on countless Post-It Notes and sticking them on the lockers of her peers. Probably, she even wrote one for the perps who broke into her locker and spewed hate.
Obviously, Caitlin took all that Turn The Other Cheek talk to heart. But instead of singing her praises, school administrators castigated her actions, which they perceived as little more than litter.
Fortunately, the message still got across, and the school set up a Post-It Day, whence all the students and staff get to spread some sticky note love. And Caitlin's message has spread even further—with workplaces trying out the same tradition.
Serious threats need serious (adult) intervention, but when schools consistently fail to protect and defend kids from bullying, sometimes teens are right to take matters into their own hands. I sincerely hope that the kid(s) involved have learned a thing or two from trying to mess with Caitlin.
You tell me: Is Caitlin's story a shining example of how to face up to bullies, or should she have let the authorities handle the matter?
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