I Want To Shake His Parents

I am bad he said. No I replied. You are sad. Arms crossed now. Closing himself up. Huddles in corner. Lying in corner. Hood over face. Fetal position. Stays there a long time. I type away, saying nothing. He gets up after about eighteen minutes. I am a bad kid he tells me. There is nothing bad about you I reply. You are a sweet boy. You help your classmates. You are pretty wonderful. His eyes fill with tears. I am bad! He yells. I am bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. I have heard that a child who is taught this Must hear a compliment ten thousand times before they hear it the first time. I want to grab his parents and shake them. I want to tell them to think before they speak. I want to tell them to think before they give their children the hate looks. I want to tell them to stop using the belt. I want to tell them to stop having children. He is their seventh, and they have all been this sad.