--- title: Getting help is not telling tales — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Getting help is not telling tales», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: For three weeks Sam walks the long way round to school to avoid the boys at the bus shelter. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Getting help is not telling tales # Getting help is not telling tales Lesson 369 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 27 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/0/) — For three weeks Sam walks the long way round to school to avoid the boys at the bus shelter. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/1/) — He's late twice, his shoes wear thin and he tells nobody. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/2/) — Then one evening he tells his mum everything. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/3/) — She doesn't laugh. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/4/) — She rings the school, and the next week a teacher stands at that corner at half past eight. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/5/) — Sam walks the short way again — and wonders why he waited three weeks. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/6/) — Lily is worried about «telling tales», because that is what the boys sneer at. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/7/) — So she asks her teacher what the difference is. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/8/) — The teacher says: «Telling tales is trying to get someone into trouble over something small — like who pushed in the lunch queue. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/9/) — Getting help is when someone is hurt, in danger, or being picked on again and again. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/10/) — Getting help is always right.» - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/12/) — Maddie twists her ankle in a scrap behind the garages and tells no one, so it swells to twice its size; the doctor says she should have had ice and a check-up the same day. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/13/) — Jake's dad tells him «never grass on anyone». - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/14/) — But when older boys from the secondary school push Jake around, for once Jake tells a teacher instead of fighting — and, to his amazement, it works. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/15/) — Sam keeps learning. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/16/) — When a big Station Road boy knocks a little girl off her scooter, Sam runs to the shop on the corner and tells the man at the counter, who comes straight out. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/17/) — When he finds Lily crying behind the mobile classroom because a Station Road girl took her phone, he doesn't try to grab it back — he fetches the teacher on duty. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/18/) — And after weeks of being called names, he rings Childline from his gran's phone. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/19/) — A kind voice listens and helps him work out what to do next. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/20/) — Telling tales means trying to get someone into trouble over something small; getting help means someone is hurt, in danger or being bullied. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/21/) — Telling a trusted adult about bullying or danger is always the right thing, even if others call it grassing or snitching. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/22/) — If a child is hurt in the street, a nearby adult such as a shopkeeper can help quickly; in an emergency adults call 999 in the UK, 911 in the USA and Canada, or 000 in Australia. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/23/) — Childline (0800 1111 in the UK) is a free helpline where children can talk about any worry; other countries have their own, like Kids Help Phone in Canada and Kids Helpline in Australia. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/24/) — A twisted ankle should be rested, cooled with ice wrapped in a cloth, and checked by an adult or doctor if it swells or hurts a lot. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/25/) — Hiding an injury so you don't get in trouble can make it much worse. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/26/) — Trying to grab back something stolen can turn into a fight; fetching an adult is safer. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/28/) — Problems kept secret for a long time usually get bigger, not smaller. - ← previous: [Speaking up is bravery too](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/368-speaking-up-is-bravery-too/) - next →: [Standing by a friend](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/370-standing-by-a-friend/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)