--- title: Fights, racism and being a bystander — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Fights, racism and being a bystander», a lesson of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Some hurts are about losing face, like Rory losing an arm-wrestle to his little cousin at a barbecue while the whole family laughe --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/) [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/) / Fights, racism and being a bystander # Fights, racism and being a bystander Lesson 20 of the reflection course of Mova's primary school: 18 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/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/0/) — Some hurts are about losing face, like Rory losing an arm-wrestle to his little cousin at a barbecue while the whole family laughed; others cut much deeper, like a boy telling Mo every single day that he should "go back" to a country he has never lived in, when Mo was born right here. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/1/) — Mo turned it over every night: "Where's my country, then? - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/2/) — Do I not belong anywhere?" For weeks he stopped talking about his family's food and language at school, as if hiding them would make the words stop. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/3/) — What changed it: he told his teacher, the school treated it seriously, the class did a project on where everyone's families come from, and his grandad's stories made him proud again; telling someone they don't belong because of their race or family is racist bullying, and it is never okay. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/4/) — Then there is Max, who just stood there while his friends bullied a younger kid: "I didn't do anything. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/6/) — Is that just as bad?" Doing nothing while someone is hurt can feel like being part of it; next time, getting help is the right thing. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/7/) — And fights between friends often start from a guess, like Ruby screaming "You did that on purpose!" at netball when it was an accident; checking first saves a lot of fights, and even screaming rows can be mended with a real sorry. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/8/) — Families often tease about funny moments; it usually means affection, but it can still sting, and laughing along over time turns it into a shared joke. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/9/) — Racism is treating people badly because of their race or where their family comes from; telling someone to "go back" where they supposedly came from is racist bullying and should always be reported. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/10/) — A person born in a country belongs there, and a family story from another place is something to be proud of, not hidden. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/11/) — Even friends who scream horrible things at each other can make up if both say sorry and mean it; "bury the hatchet" means stop fighting. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/12/) — Dyslexia is a difference that makes reading and spelling harder; it has nothing to do with being clever, and many very successful people have it. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/13/) — Sometimes we decide someone hurt us on purpose when it was an accident; "jumping to conclusions" causes many fights, and checking first prevents them. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/14/) — Peer pressure is when friends push you to do something you don't want to do; saying no is braver than giving in. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/16/) — A bystander watches harm happen without helping; doing nothing can feel like being part of it, and telling a teacher afterwards still helps. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/17/) — Telling an adult when someone hurts you is not "grassing"; a grass, in UK slang, tells on people to get them in trouble, but telling to stay safe is different. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/18/) — Play-fighting can turn into real fighting; when someone says stop, the game must stop at once. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/20-fights-racism-and-being-a-bystander/19/) — Feelings after these events change over weeks: anger often turns to embarrassment, sadness or guilt, and then fades once things are put right. - ← previous: [Picked on: freeze-outs, robberies and standing up](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/19-picked-on-freeze-outs-robberies-and-standing-up/) - next →: [Left out: the party, the new school, the third wheel](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/21-left-out-the-party-the-new-school-the-third-wheel/) - ↑ back to [Reflection](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/)