Here’s a letter I received a little while ago

Hi Jenny,
I just wanted to say thankyou for making mummy and me laugh so much. I know i am too young for your music but when i am sad it makes me laugh as i put some of it into helping me deal with the bullying at school.

I have been listening to mummys ipod tonight which is mostly your songs, i have been sad today because the older boys at school are always so nasty to me. I was hoping secondary school would be different. Mummy says when they start on me i should just say dilligaf to them, that always makes me laugh, especially since she told me what it means.

Mummy would have liked to come and see you but my little brother won’t stay with anyone…..she has spoilt him lol.

I hope you are still touring when I am 18 as I would love to meet you and hear you sing live.

and before you tell me i should be asleep, I can’t sleep as I am afraid of school tomorrow and what they will do next.

Thanks Jenny

Luv

James

It really just about broke my heart

Fucking bullies!

So I wrote back to James

Hi James
Thanks for writing mate
Sucks to hear that you’re being bullied at school
It’s mind blowing to me just how much that goes on in schools these days
Why do kids have to be cruel to each other? I just don’t understand it
As a mum, I’m dreading my girls going to school one day and being bullied
I’m sure it’s very upsetting to your parents too
If it makes you feel any better – anyone I’ve ever known that was bullied at school, went on to become very successful in their lives. As if they were proving a point some how
And the bullies? They usually ‘peak’ in school. As in, that’s where they were popular, had the most friends etc. Once out in the real world, they tend not to cope too well
So you keep your chin up James. I know it’s hard to ignore them – but them bullying you says a lot about how insecure and messed up their lives are. You’re just who they are choosing to take it out on
Not fair at all – but I hope you can get thru it mate – and come out at the end of it all – the same great kid you are now
It will end one day, and you can go on to have a great & happy life
You sound like you have a wonderful family – right there that makes you lucky!
Take care James
JENNY
x

And then this morning, James mum wrote to me

Hi Jen,
A while ago my eldest son messaged you via facebook and thanked you for helping him laugh through the bullying he was facing. Then I got to see you at croydon, I never said thanks. Because your reply made him strong enough to stand up for himself. We have now changed his school and he is a very happy 11 yr old.
You really helped him and I am thankfull for that, I am not sure if you realise the impact you have on giving kids confidence!!
when you are back in London, I will be bringing him to meet you even though he is too young to see you perform, because it sure would make his day.

Jen, you have made my son so proud, happy and have given him confidence with your words. It takes someone special to do that because sometimes us mums are too close to the situation to help in that way!!

Sarah

I’m so looking forward to meeting James next time we’re in the UK

This absolutely made my day!

(yeah, yeah, and cry a bit too..)

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 8:13 pm and is filed under aaahhh kids, Favourites, friends, happy happy joy joy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.