Mum's school plea: 'Please teach your kids not to be jerks'

Mother-of-two, Jill Robbins, has made an emotional plea to parents ahead of the new school term.

Jill's plea requests that parents take the time to teach their children 'not to be jerks'. 

While it seems slightly shocking from the outset, the mum-of-two has a good reason why she wants parents to pay attention. 

Her seven-year-old son Zach has a limb difference, where his right hand is not fully formed, meaning he only has part of a limb. 

Nonetheless, Jill and her family have never seen a big issue as Zach still takes part in the everyday comings and goings. 

The seven-year-old is a member of several extra-curriculars, colours, draws, helps his mum in the kitchen and even carries his own laundry; there's nothing that has separated him from the everyday. 

But when Zach was attending his 'meet your teacher' night before the beginning of school, Jill realised that there were a number of fears her son was trying to address, some which had shocked Mum. 

"He'd been telling me for weeks that he was afraid to go back to school. I brushed him off and it wasn't until about thirty minutes before it was time to leave that I actually focused on his concerns."

"Because my limb difference child is normally confident and gregarious and I really don't think of him as being different," declared the San Antonio mum. 

But Zach was scared. Scared of people who didn't know him asking him questions about his 'little hand'.

Jill informed her youngster that it's OK for others to ask questions, but Zach explained to his mum that sometimes he gets tired of the same answer. 

Attempting to reassure her son it's perfectly normal for other kids to be curious, Zach eventually exclaimed: "Please don't let them be mean to me, Mummy."

It is the part of the story where Jill's heart sank, and ours too, because no child should fear other children. 

Jill writes: "After some prodding, my son revealed to me that some kids taunted him at daycamp this summer."

In the aftermath of her conversation with her son, Jill wanted other parents to realise there is a difference between curiosity and being a jerk. 

"Ask questions and be curious about people who look different than you look. But before you stop to ask questions, consider that there is a living, feeling person on the other end."

"And, if you have a child who is different, in any respect, keep paying attention to what they're experiencing, thinking, and feeling. Their perception of being taunted or ostracised MATTERS. Listen."

"And please…don't let your kids be jerks. Talk to them about differences and inclusion."

Coming so close to the new school term, this is an important one for all parents to take note of, there are people from all walks of life out there.