I enjoy watching happy children. Who doesn’t? There is nothing like spending time with children who are truly happy and show it.

Recently, I spent some time watching a group of children who seemed incredibly happy. I was actually fortunate enough to be able to work with these children. Even though their interactions were not all what we may consider perfect, overall the children were happy and contented.

As a contrast, a couple of weeks ago I did a workshop with a group of grade four children who were definitely not happy. They were constantly at each other. They said mean things to each other and their teacher frequently spoke up to ask them to act more respectfully. By the end of the workshop, they did seem a little more focused and a little more cooperative, but overall, I got the sense that these children were lacking a level of happiness I often see in children.

This got me thinking about the effect happiness has on children. Do you think happy children get bullied less? Do you think happy children get bullied more? Or do you think happiness makes no difference to the level of bullying? You may be a parent or a teacher. You may be a child care worker or a professional. Nevertheless, you probably have an opinion on the above questions.

Please leave me your thoughts in the comment area at the bottom. I will look forward to reading your opinions.

Bruce Langford is an anti-bullying advocate who offers seminars, workshops, assemblies and keynote talks about bullying and respect. www.standupnow.ca