Little brother is going to be bullied

[Archerygirl]

So even though I don't have the best relationship with my 10 year old brother one thing is bothering me. He's going into 5th grade which is middle school in my town and is extremely innocent. He still believes in Santa Claus and all that stuff because my mom won't tell him. She told me if I told him it wasn't real I'd be in serious trouble. I keep telling her it's going to be like sending a lamb to slaughter but she still won't do it. Then she tells me I have to watch out and make sure he doesn't get bullied but if I stood up for him because of him believing in the Easter Bunny I'm probably going to get bullied too. He also doesn't seem to have any knowledge about sex or puberty even though he had to watch "the video". When I was that age, even younger my friends and I joked around about sex all the time but he doesn't. He is almost out of time to mature enough to survive the first year of middle school. I don't know what to do because if I tell him he's going to tell my mom and I'm going to get in trouble.If I don't he will get destroyed within the first week and I'll get in trouble for not standing up for him. It's a lose lose situation but which one seems better?

[justapisces]

hi there! if i were you i would find out why your mother doesnt want to tell him- maybe she doesnt want his feelings to get hurt? i think she should be the one who tells him the truth about these things but if she refuses you might have to convince her that u do it

good luck

[Nora Wex]

Sometimes people need to learn on their own what life's about. He's going to have his own friends and his own experiences to teach him a lot of things by himself. A lot can change in a year, so he'll likely grow out of a lot of things. If you don't tell him, maybe someone nicer will. You need to have a sit down talk with your mom and make sure you don't raise your voices. Communicate calmly and stake your case.

Tell her something like this:

"Mom, I'm worried about my brother because he's a little too old to be believing these things anymore. I know you want him to stay young and innocent, but if he doesn't learn it from us, someone else might misdirect him. It's better to just let him know ahead of time before he gets hurt. I care sincerely about him and I can't protect him from everything. He's his own person, and he needs to learn to help defend himself when I'm not going to be around. I can't watch him every second, you can't expect me to follow him around, either. We need to enlighten him about the real world so he doesn't get hurt. I want to do this so he doesn't get bullied. I understand you might still want him to believe in all of these silly things, but he isn't a baby anymore. He's at the age where he needs to learn these things and I don't want that education to come from some jerk at school who will tease him."

Hope this helps. Just my opinion, but this is how I'd deal with it.