Organizers of an anti-bullying campaign are giving presentations in schools across South Dakota and surrounding areas. The Tour of Kindness teaches children how to respect others who are differently abled or come from diverse backgrounds.
Justine Kougl and her family moved from South Dakota to the Crow Reservation in Montana. She has three children-a seven year old, six year old and 3 year old daughter, Quinn. Quinn has Treacher Collins Syndrome.
“And that particular syndrome affects her facial features. She was born in need of a tracheostomy breathing tube and a feeding tube and hearing and hearing aids. So we spent a lot of time in down in Denver Children’s and have been in and out of the hospital with surgery since.”
Kougl and her youngest go to schools to teach kids and parents how to talk to people who are different from them.
“I had a lady say to me ‘what is wrong with her face’ and she said it just like that ‘what’s wrong with her face?’ And I thought to myself, wow. Okay I understand this lady really just wants to understand and I appreciate that she asked. But man, can we teach our kids-that next generation and the parents of this generation-how to ask a more appropriate question.”
Kougl says she wants to empower everyone-especially youth-to create change in the world through kindness.
During the presentations, Kougl teaches children to ask questions about each other’s differences following the rule of KIND. K sands for be kind and caring, I is introduce yourself, N is for never be hurtful and D stands for discover new friends.
She says this program helps kids learn how to a treat all people with respect instead of fear.
“We all have different feelings and we experience things in different ways. And maybe we look different, or we act different or we talk different. But it’s nothing to be scared of. That we really just need to stop and say hello and introduce ourselves to those people and we can make a new friend very easily by doing that.”
She hopes the Tour of Kindness inspires other parents with children with special needs to jump on board in their areas.