What was to be gang related

I'll never forget the first time my mom put me on a bus to go to school.  She waited with me at the stop until the bus arrived, and as I began the ascent up those rubber coated stairs she said to me, "Whatever you were before, you are entirely alone now." 

She may remember the experience differently and perhaps those were not her words verbatim, but that was certainly what I felt as I navigated my way through the noisy metal box.  Once I sat down though, I looked at my lunchbox and realized that I was not entirely bereft of comfort.  On my lunchbox was the image of He-Man holding his sword aloft as his allies stood at his back in the face of the onslaught of skeletons and monsters in the lower corners of the case. 

There are a lot of lessons that my young self could have taken from that moment.  I could have learned that as long as I was brave, just, and true that I could stand up to anything.  Or that I too could find friends and allies to unite with against the terrors of the unknown.  But instead I thought, "I wish I were home watching He-Man". 

Between fight or flight, I had opted into flight, but since mobility was limited I practiced mental escapism into an imaginary world.  When I got to school I continued this strategy by finding a book and fortifying myself against the world within its pages until the bell rang.  Over the weeks this behavior attracted like minded children.  Now, with a  small gang, we felt more confident venturing into other parts of the playground and talking out in class. 

I have always been fortunate in this way, that my introverted behavior has still been rewarded with very close friends.  So when I saw on facebook that a friend was seeking counsel for what she should do about a son who was being bullied, the advice that I wanted to type was that he needed to get a gang together.  I was never bullied in school, despite personal and aesthetic peculiarities.  I think I insisted on wearing sweatpants to school well into my elementary school years, and spent much of second grade reading babysitter club books rather than talking to actual girls.  But again, I was never bullied, probably because I always rolled 5 or 6 deep, making the true loners the more likely targets for misdirected aggression and insecurity. 

We have a problem with the term 'gangs' as they are associated with escalating violence, peer pressure, and bullying themselves.  But in a scenario where you are basically in a prison with one guard per 30 inmates, and less than that on the playground.  You would be well advised not to try to go it alone.  Plus, Red Rover doesn't work by yourself.