Two years ago, Dr. Cipes came across a story on Facebook about a pediatrician from Indiana, who spoke to schoolchildren about bullying. Dr. Michael Goodman is a pediatric hospitalist at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indiana who was born with a genetic condition, Treacher Collins Syndrome that causes facial differences and speech problems. This is the same condition that Augie Pullman, the protagonist in the book and movie Wonder had. Shortly after the release of the movie, a social media post that Dr. Goodman made regarding his life growing up with Treacher Collins Syndrome went viral, leading to the development of a school talk aimed at elementary and middle school children. To date Dr. Goodman has shared his story with over 25,000 elementary, middle and high school students. In an effort to promote kindness and decrease bullying he talks about how being different is okay and how similar we are to other people even if they look or act different.
As pediatric dentists, Dr. Goodman’s message resonated with us and we sensed that he had an important message to share with health professionals and parents. In September, we invited Dr. Goodman to Connecticut to lecture to the Connecticut Society of Pediatric Dentists, Dental Students at the University Of Connecticut School Of Dental Medicine and to fourth and fifth graders at Duffy Elementary School in West Hartford.
In his lecture to the local pediatric dentists and dental students, Dr. Goodman spoke about his life story and how bullying can have serious short and long term effects on not only the targets of bullying but also those who bully and even those who witness bullying without participating. He emphasized that as adults we can lead with kindness and model kind behavior for children.
Drs. Cipes and Chisholm also had the pleasure of attending Dr. Goodman’s presentation to fourth and fifth graders at Louise Duffy Elementary School. The Duffy students were well prepared; almost all of them had read the book Wonder. Using music clips and references to pop culture such as sports, Taylor Swift and Legos he engaged the students in conversation. He asked the children their thoughts about how the characters in the book handled situations when children bullied Augie and whether they thought a particular character’s actions were kind or unkind as well as what they could have done differently. We were so impressed by the students sensitivity and caring attitudes. In the weeks following the presentation, several parents shared with us the incredible impact Dr. Goodman had on their children.
Dr. Goodman’s hope is that “by partnering together with children, parents, teachers and community we can decrease bullying significantly and hopefully end it.”