Devori was an awkward 7th grader. She wasn’t interested in the same things as other girls, and learned to pick fights with them because she preferred they be angry than laugh at her. After years of rejection, she didn’t even try to get along with other students any more.
At her school’s Kav L’Noar social and emotional learning group, it was the same old story. Devori refused to participate in any of the group activities, and spent the sessions looking at the floor, barely speaking except to say a nasty comment here and there.
"All this time, I never really understood what I was doing wrong, why everyone else seemed to manage and I couldn’t. Now I feel like maybe I can do it after all. I can have friends too!" -Devori
During one of the sessions, the discussion turned to bullying. Despite herself, Devori shared the details of a horrible incident that she’d experienced. She was taken aback by the group’s reaction. They were shocked by what had happened to Devori, and said that no one deserved such treatment.
Devori sensed the warmth of the group filling her up. She was so encouraged that she started to join in with the discussions even when that made her vulnerable. For the first time, Devori began to question whether she was really as worthless as she’d always felt. She found strengths inside herself that she never knew she had.
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