They Don't Like Me

by Jane Katch

"In her new book, Jane Katch explores the painful problems of bullying, teasing, and exclusion. Why, she wonders, does a young child, just becoming aware of the existence of the group, feel such a strong need to keep another child out? And is it possible to teach children to create social groups that aren't defined by excluding others?" "With her acute eye and deft pen, Katch watches her class of four- and five-year-olds begin to form exclusionary groups and tells us what happens as she tries to intervene. Her classroom has a rule based on Vivian Paley's work: You can't say you can't play. It works well, until a new child joins the class. Zoe, braids flying behind her, insists on having things her way and wants the other children's games to conform to her wishes; she's scared of roaring, she kicks, and she's terrified of losing her tenuous place in the group. She's also a wildly, wonderfully imaginative child, but the rule of fairness is not by itself enough to address the dynamics of