Dear Shayna,

I love your column! One day I was talking to my friend Oswald, and he called me “klutz,” which I thought was really mean! The name caught on and everyone calls me that! I haven’t talked to anyone in so long because of this! What should I do?

Signed,

Not A Klutzy Kid

Dear Not A Klutzy Kid,

Tell people you don’t like the nickname. If they say too bad, talk to the teacher. If the teacher does something and your friends are still mean to you because of it, you’ll realize that they aren’t actually your friends. Not everyone will stop calling you “klutz,” but the people who do won’t look good, because they’ll be the only ones calling you “klutz” even though everyone knows it hurts your feelings. They’ll probably get bored soon too and stop calling you that.

In some ways though, you should see your nickname incident as a blessing in disguise. It helps separate the people you would want to know from the ones who you probably wouldn’t.

If you ever get another nickname that’s unflattering, well… uh, keep this article!

Best of luck,

Shayna B.

Shayna is a fifth grader and understands what kids in elementary school are going through. She is happy to help others navigate this tricky time. She can be reached at [email protected]. She is looking forward to hearing from you soon.