Kids are cruel

I spoke with a student of mine that normally keeps pretty quiet but was obviously close to tears.  She ended up telling me about an experience that was eerily familiar.  She's a pretty solidly Christian girl, believing all the Nicene Creed kinds of things, and it apparently puts her in a minority in this school.  It's a Christian school with Cathedral services twice a week, so I couldn't help but be a little surprised.  She said that other girls in her year, and one girl in particular, tease her quite regularly about her religious beliefs. She feels ostracized and alone, and she tends to suffer privately.  I usually just listen when my students tell me these things, as that's the one thing people need most, but I decided to share my own experiences this time.  After all, I was teased pretty regularly for the same thing, except mine was for not being Christian in a heavily Christian community.  So there we are, an atheist and a Christian, both feeling a bit alone in this community for different reasons, but realizing that both Christians and atheists can be jerks.  And both knowing that kids can be incredibly cruel.  But at least that knowledge made her smile.