small town feelings

A friend of mine from a small town made a post tonight about her kid being treated differently by teachers at school..
You see, my friend’s daughter doesn’t have one of those “special” small town last names.
You KNOW what I’m talking about.
Those last names that carry so much clout in a speck of a town that any child privileged enough to have one of these names tacked to the end of their first name will be dubbed “VIP of (insert town name)”
Kids with these last names are loved by ALL in the town and at school. When they speak other kids listen.
These kids can be late for class without needing a tardy slip,
A small group of them can talk during 3rd period English while everyone else has to be quiet 🤐
They are guaranteed to receive extra privileges like going to another teacher’s classroom to hang out while the rest of the kids are stuck reading silently.
They can have their phone out “only for a sec”, while other kids are punished for doing the same
They will also be given friendly attention and acceptance by the ENTIRE school staff while kids with regular names aren’t spoken to.
The list goes on and onnnn...and most of you can probably give your own examples of things you’ve seen or experienced first hand!
How do I know about these special names??
I didn’t have one of those names & my kids don’t have those names.
It can be so disheartening as a child to be treated differently for something that you don’t understand.
You see a few of the other girls during free time being allowed to sit at the teacher’s desk, so you try to join because it’s an extra special thing to do!
Only to find out that you are, in fact, not allowed to sit at the teachers desk with those girls.
This is how you first learn that you aren’t important and that those other kids are the most important.
It’s heartbreaking to think about tbh.
This is not to say that those kids asked for special treatment. They likely did not!
And what kid wouldn’t accept privileges given to them??
I certainly would have.
No, this is not to chastise the innocent kiddos.
This post is to chastise ADULTS who continue the small town pecking order!! You can change this!
Stop giving special privileges to kids just because of who they are!
Her grandpa used to be the post master and was a stand up guy?? WONDERFUL! ....not relevant to how that child should be treated.
Their parents own a business, FANTASTIC...and not relevant.
Billy’s mama does drugs and you don’t like her?? TOTALLY OK....not relevant to how Billy should be treated.
That kid’s mom is a teacher?? AWESOME!! We need great teachers♥️ and i commend Teachers for the hard work they ALL do!....not relevant.
The parents of the girl in your math class never made anything of themselves and you don’t know their kid?? ....STILL NOT RELEVANT
STOP treating people based on who they are and what you think you know, and start treating others as PEOPLE. Get to know them, or don’t 🤷🏼‍♀️
But STOP pushing your tiny town bs onto kids before they ever have a chance to believe in themselves and know that they are important! 👌🏻
Parents of “no name” kids, teach your kids that there is a gigantic world of possibilities just outside the suffocating perimeter of that 1 store, 2 road town.
Your kids deserve to know that they aren’t limited to what a small handful of people think is important