School Bullying
This post is inspired by an article I read in which a bullied 10 year old girl passed away after a fight with her perpetrator. She'd apparently been having problems with a girl who harassed her for nearly two years. She pleaded with her mother to stay home from school one day. That was the last time her mother saw her alive.
"I want to go to school one day so that I can make friends", my four year old said.
A few years later, my son was the victim of playground bullying. Fortunately, I caught it before it was too late. I praise the school for taking quick action on the matter. To be fair, this didn't just happen overnight. I noticed my son's behavior change over months for the worse. He began degrading himself while becoming introverted. Suspicious about his odd behavior, I pressed him for answers regarding his disinterest in attending school one morning. He proceeded to tell me how his "friend" slammed his head into the wall multiple times. I also discovered that this friend had been following him around while pushing and hitting him for months. Teaming up with the school, we've put a stop to it for the benefit of the students as a whole.
It is unfortunate that the 11 year old girl didn't have the same support as we did. Schools are a place for learning, not sparring. Lunch and recess are times for the students to either rest, replenish, play and/or socialize. School should be a fun experience allowing the students to focus on studying. The stress of playground bullying is an obstacle that can be defeated through the efforts of the school and parents combined. School bullying is theft. It steals the pride and joy that parents have worked so hard to instill into their babies.
Most teachers enter the field of teaching for their love of watching the children flourish in the academics. I am reminded of the tears shed by one teacher who expressed how much she'd miss her first grade class because they cared so much for each other. That is the kind of environment we should strive for in our school systems.
Character building workshops aren't quite enough. I envision mandatory classes which teach the acceptance of cultural diversity. Such classes could alleviate school policing. The curriculum for this class should of course be acknowledged by the entire school staff. The goal of this idea is to encourage every student to be successful.
Multicultural acceptance is not the only key. Individuality also plays a significant role in the outcome. Bearing gang-types of mentalities is a result of peer pressure which also leads to catastrophic outcomes. I'll discuss that in a future post but for now, my purpose is to address school bullying. It is learned at home. It is learned on the streets. It is learned on social media. It is a form of theft and not aligned with the mentality of the harmless moralist.
"I want to go to school one day so that I can make friends", my four year old said.
A few years later, my son was the victim of playground bullying. Fortunately, I caught it before it was too late. I praise the school for taking quick action on the matter. To be fair, this didn't just happen overnight. I noticed my son's behavior change over months for the worse. He began degrading himself while becoming introverted. Suspicious about his odd behavior, I pressed him for answers regarding his disinterest in attending school one morning. He proceeded to tell me how his "friend" slammed his head into the wall multiple times. I also discovered that this friend had been following him around while pushing and hitting him for months. Teaming up with the school, we've put a stop to it for the benefit of the students as a whole.
It is unfortunate that the 11 year old girl didn't have the same support as we did. Schools are a place for learning, not sparring. Lunch and recess are times for the students to either rest, replenish, play and/or socialize. School should be a fun experience allowing the students to focus on studying. The stress of playground bullying is an obstacle that can be defeated through the efforts of the school and parents combined. School bullying is theft. It steals the pride and joy that parents have worked so hard to instill into their babies.
Most teachers enter the field of teaching for their love of watching the children flourish in the academics. I am reminded of the tears shed by one teacher who expressed how much she'd miss her first grade class because they cared so much for each other. That is the kind of environment we should strive for in our school systems.
Character building workshops aren't quite enough. I envision mandatory classes which teach the acceptance of cultural diversity. Such classes could alleviate school policing. The curriculum for this class should of course be acknowledged by the entire school staff. The goal of this idea is to encourage every student to be successful.
Multicultural acceptance is not the only key. Individuality also plays a significant role in the outcome. Bearing gang-types of mentalities is a result of peer pressure which also leads to catastrophic outcomes. I'll discuss that in a future post but for now, my purpose is to address school bullying. It is learned at home. It is learned on the streets. It is learned on social media. It is a form of theft and not aligned with the mentality of the harmless moralist.
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