"DOUG THE THUG AND THE GREEN WIGGLY BUG" Bullying Lesson

(This manuscript is not yet illustrated. The illustrated story will be coming soon)

Do you know what to do with a green, wiggly bug? Doug knows. He is the school bully. Like Doug, I’ll bet you could imagine ways to use a bug to be very mean. Doug The Thug is not unlike the bullies we all remember. As he encounters several of his classmates, he does his best to intimidate them by forcing them to eat a bug. How will Fat Roy, Bulgy Eyed Bill and Long Neck Larry react? Will they find help by enlisting Knock Knee’d Mary, Red Fred, and Freckly Betty? “Enough is enough”, they all agree. “Today is the day we teach this bully a lesson.” Together they poetically teach Doug a very memorable lesson, and even earn his friendship.

Finding nonviolent solutions to bully problems is a primary concern of parents and educators. Although suggesting peaceful alternatives to confrontation is a relatively simple task, assuring that children take adult advice is more difficult. It is often easier to relate a moral lesson through a poetic, humorous and provocative story, instead of patented lectures about behavior. Whether the reader is a teacher, parent or child, all who read Doug The Thug, should discover an important lesson about how to treat others.

I have been a teacher for 42 years. I have spent the entire time teaching in junior high and middle schools. During that time I have become an expert regarding teaching and adolescent behavior. Recently I was nominated for the Walt Disney Teacher Of The Year Award. During my teaching career I have witnessed bullying, every day. Doug is typical of most bullies. While they find pleasure intimidating individuals, they, themselves, are suppressed by groups. Thus, I present a story with a very Aesop-like moral: ”Doug The Thug And The Green Wiggly Bug”.