“Mommy someone at school asked me why I’m so tall”

My daughter goes-  “Mommy, someone at school asked me why I’m so tall”. I asked,  “What did you say?”. She goes,  “I said I don’t know”. I replied, “Next time someone asks you that, why don’t you ask them why they are short?”. She responds, “I would never say that; that is not kind”. We continued having our conversation, and I explained to her that she is tall because her mom and dad are tall, and the next time someone asks, she can say that. I asked how she felt when another student asked her that. She said she didn’t care, but somehow deep down, I knew this was just the beginning of the negative comments and questions she would receive about her height. I was bullied cause of my height as a child and have always been insecure about my height because of it. 

As a society, why must we make such a big deal about people’s height and general appearance? Sadly, it starts at such a young age. Why is being tall such a big deal? Why do we have to make young kids start questioning their appearance at such a young age because society feels that being tall does not fit the norm? 

Also, can we stop using the word big to refer to a child that is tall? Many people use the words tall and big interchangeably to describe a child's height. The word big is not the same as tall, so please stop. Words can have a huge permanent impact on young kids. Choose your words wisely, and let’s teach our children to be kind human beings and not full of judgment towards those that don’t fit the society’s definition of normal.