This is Tommy. Tommy is a nine-year-old boy from a small town outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Tommy attends Walton Elementary School, where he enjoys playing video games, using the internet, and staying indoors.    

In fact, Tommy dislikes the outdoors so much, that he even dislikes people who like the outdoors. Tommy refuses to do fun activities like go swimming, play sports, and spend time outdoors. When Tommy is forced to go outdoors, he becomes very miserable and angry. To take out his anger, Tommy will destroy the wildlife around him and throw all his trash on the ground and in the lake instead of in a trash can.      

One day, Tommy’s class gained a new student; his name was Oscar. Oscar was nothing like Tommy. Oscar liked to spend all his time outdoors. He loved to swim in the lake, play catch, and explore the wonders of nature. Tommy did not like Oscar. Tommy thought Oscar was weird just because Oscar was different than him.

Because he thought this, Tommy was very mean to Oscar. He would act unkindly towards him in school and treat him differently than his other friends. Tommy was very mean to Oscar and was a big bully. Oscar only wants to be Tommy’s friends, but no matter how hard Oscar tried, Tommy was very intolerant of Oscar’s hobbies and refused to be his friend.   

One time, when Oscar was playing in the grass, Tommy went up to him and threw trash at him.

“Pick up the trash you nature nerd” Tommy said meanly.

Oscar was very sad that Tommy did this. Not only was Oscar minding his own business, but now he has to clean up all the trash that Tommy threw at him.   

Tommy was getting very out of hand and it was time for someone to do something about it. Soon enough, everyone at the school started to realize how badly Tommy was treating Oscar. They saw that Tommy was a big bully and that what he was doing was very wrong. The class knew that treating people and the environment badly was not the right thing to do, and so they decided they didn’t want to be Tommy’s friends anymore.   

The next morning, when Tommy came in to school, he realized that no one was talking to him. No matter who he walked up to, everyone would just ignore him and walk away. Tommy was very confused. He had no idea why no one wanted to be his friend anymore. When it came to lunch time, no one wanted to sit with Tommy. He ended up sitting all by himself, eating his sandwich, while Oscar was sitting with all his friends.   

When it was time for recess, all of Tommy’s friends decided to play soccer with Oscar, leaving Tommy alone on the swings. And before he knew it, recess was over.

But before Tommy could walk in the doors, Mr. Wilson, Tommy’s teacher, pulled him aside to talk to him.

“You can’t be mean to people, Tommy. You can’t be mean to the environment either. Your friends don’t want to be friends with someone like that”, Mr. Wilson said.

“I know I made a big mistake and I’m sorry! But it’s too late now, my friends will never talk to me again.” Tommy replied.