A Girl Who Was Bullied For Loving Bugs Gets A Little Help From Entomologists

Unfortunately being bullied just seems like a natural part of life for most people. It is not uncommon to find a young person being bullied for simply having interests that are considered to be outside the norm. Eight year old Sophia Spencer is one of these young people and she possesses a keen intellect and a passion for creepy-crawlies. It is precisely for her love of bugs that young Sophia found herself the victim of persistent bullying by her classmates. In an effort to spare her daughter the belief that she is weird for loving bugs, Sophia’s mom reached out to professional entomologists on facebook with the hopes that some of them would respond and promote her interest in insects and spiders.

Needless to say, but the hearts of many entomologists melted after hearing about Sophia’s bullying. For example, a social media volunteer for The Entomological Society of Canada immediately responded to Sophia’s mother by posting her letter to twitter and asking scientists all over the world to share their knowledge with Sophia. Since then tweets from all over the world have been pouring in in support of Sophia’s interest. I think it goes without saying that Sophia will continue to learn about bugs with confidence from now on.

Have you ever been thought of as strange on account of your interest in insects and arthropods, which many people try to avoid out of fear?