Read for Empathy collection Readaloud: Ian Eagleton reads Glitter Boy

Hello, my name's Ian Eagleton and I'm the award-winning author of Nen and the Lonely Fisherman and Glitter Boy. I'm so excited to be here with you today on Empathy Day and I'd like to share with you a little extract from my book Glitter Boy. In it the main character James is being bullied some boys in his class are calling him gay and they're whispering about him and they're not being very nice at all about him excluding him from lots of things that are going on and he's really really struggling but he won't tell anyone. So he writes these instructions on how to make it through the day so this is called instructions on how to make it through. First, act like everything is fine with Harriet and Joel like yesterday never happened. Be as small and quiet as possible. Do not draw attention to yourself by putting your hand up. Your voice is girly. Don't let anyone hear it. Next, it's important to try and remain invisible in the playground. Don't sing or show off. Don't smile or laugh. Tell Harriet you're not feeling well. Tell Joel you're just tired. When lining up after break keep your head down and look at the floor. If you hear anyone whispering gay, poof, sissy, girl, gay boy, just ignore them. When friends ask if anything is wrong just smile and tell them that everything's fine. During choir rehearsal keep your dancing and swaying to a minimum. At lunchtime smile and laugh while Joel, Harriet and Amir are chatting. Try and force down your food even though you feel sick. In addition to this it's important to note that time spent with Joel should be limited. Lunch is fine but no one wants to see two boys giggling and whispering in the playground, especially not Paul. Instead, ask Harriet if she'll kick a football around with you. You do need to get better at football after all. Keep checking over your shoulder and it goes on and on and on and then it ends with James saying follow these instructions and you'll make it through the week. Tired, afraid, desperate, yes, but you will make it through. I think it's an important reminder that someone in school like James might just be trying to make it through the day. They might be quiet, they might have their head down, they might be laughing and pretending everything's okay but we never really know what's going on in someone's mind, in their world and it's about having empathy for everyone and understanding that we all have struggles and that we're all trying to deal with them in different ways. Thanks very much, bye.