--- title: Picked on: freeze-outs, robberies and standing up — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Picked on: freeze-outs, robberies and standing up», a lesson of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Being picked on day after day makes the dread start the night before: Ethan, whose bag gets pushed off the bench ever --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/) [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/) / [Reflection](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/) / Picked on: freeze-outs, robberies and… # Picked on: freeze-outs, robberies and standing up Lesson 19 of the reflection course of Mova's primary school: 19 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/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/0/) — Being picked on day after day makes the dread start the night before: Ethan, whose bag gets pushed off the bench every day by a group of Year 6 boys who use a word about who someone might love as an insult, lies in bed thinking: "Why me? - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/1/) — What's wrong with me? - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/2/) — Tomorrow it's gonna happen again." - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/3/) — Every morning his tummy went tight; for a month he faked being ill on Mondays; in the end he told Mum, she spoke to the school, the boys were stopped, and even then he kept his head down in that corridor for a while, because fear takes longer to leave than the bullies do. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/4/) — What he came to understand: nothing is wrong with him; using who someone might be as an insult is bullying; bullies pick anyone who looks like they won't fight back; and the fear of tomorrow is often worse than tomorrow itself. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/5/) — "It's not banter if only one side is laughing." - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/6/) — Not all bullying is loud: freezing someone out on purpose is bullying too, and a mugging is a crime, not a test of courage; handing over trainers to stay safe is smart, because things can be replaced and you can't. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/7/) — Standing up does not have to mean fighting: sitting with the friend, going to a teacher together, or reporting it is what an upstander does. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/8/) — Using who someone is, or who they might love, as an insult is bullying; nothing is wrong with the person it is aimed at. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/9/) — "It's not banter if only one side is laughing": a joke that only the joker enjoys is picking on someone. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/10/) — The fear of what will happen tomorrow is often worse than the day itself, and the fear can stay for a while even after the bullying stops. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/11/) — Freezing someone out means ignoring them on purpose, as a group; it is a kind of bullying, and it is about the group's power, not something wrong with the person. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/12/) — Being mugged means being robbed in the street; handing over things to stay safe is smart, not weak, and it should be told to a parent and the police. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/14/) — Not wanting to fight is not being soft; walking away is often the braver choice, whatever some grown-ups say. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/15/) — A bystander only watches; an upstander helps, even in small ways like sitting with the person or telling a teacher together. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/16/) — "Ducked" means pushed under water; if someone does it to you at a pool, tell a lifeguard or grown-up. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/17/) — Being called "teacher's pet", "keeno" or "swot" for trying is common teasing; trying your best is good, and other keen kids are out there. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/18/) — Brothers and sisters fight, but hitting hard is not okay; big feelings like "I wish he didn't exist" pass, and parents need to set rules. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/19/) — Liking things others call babyish is fine; "you do you" is slang for be yourself. - ← previous: [The fight I lost and the bullying I can't escape](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/18-the-fight-i-lost-and-the-bullying-i-cant-escape/) - next →: [Fights, racism and being a bystander](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/) - ↑ back to [Reflection](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/)