Bullying......Will It Ever End???

      Bullying....nowadays there isn't a child who doesn't know what that word means and surprisingly 2 out of 3 teens know exactly how bullying feels as well! Is there anything we can do to stop it? How many kids have to suffer each year? Why isn't it reported as much as it should be? Are schools really taking the appropriate measures to prevent and stop it?? These are all questions we need to be asking ourselves and our schools!! 

      How many parents send their children to school thinking they will be safe and protected? How many think school is giving their child a learning and social experience that cannot be found anywhere else? If your answer was yes, then thanks to bullying and the lack of prevention against it, you may want to think again!

      Sadly, each year bullying is making our schools unsafe and is preventing our children from getting the education they should be. Astoundingly, 1 out of ever 4 students do not feel safe within their own school and bullying has now moved outside of school hours as well, via cell phones and social networking. The reason why most of us still think our children are safe at school is because 57% of students who are bullied and harassed will not report it. However it does't just fall on the students, it falls on the school faculty as well, because 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only step in and stop such incidents from happening about 4% of the time. These numbers are scary, especially since bullying is becoming more frequent with each passing year. 

      Bullying not only occurs in high schools, elementary and middle schools are experiencing the same types of problems as well. In fact, majority, about 90% of  bullying, occurs between the 4th and 8th grade. High schools tend to see more problems with verbal and cyber bullying rather than physical, although physical bullying still happens in high school,  it tends to be at its peak during middle school years.

      With bullying so widespread, many children cannot possibly be getting the education they deserve and need, especially since more than 160,000 students miss school every day and 1 in 10 ultimately drop out before they ever get the chance to graduate, all because of the harassment and bullying they have to go through. Learning isn't the only thing affected by bullying either. The emotional and psychological damage that it causes will follow many of these children into their adult life. Children often times end up turning to drugs and alcohol or cutting themselves as a way to escape the pain. Some kids will even turn become bullies, thinking this will solve their own problems with bullying. Why are we allowing this to go on? Why are the schools not doing more? Clearly it has become an epidemic that needs immediate attention and action, bullying is not just kids being kids and it isn't just going to go away! No child should have to suffer at the hands of another child or at the hands of anyone for that matter.

     Tragically, children who are harassed and bullied on a daily basis are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide and 2 times more likely to actually go through with it, just consider the case of Amanda Todd, who was just one of many who took their own lives because they saw no end and no way out. In addition, some of these children not only contemplate suicide they think about homicide as well, which is why 75% of school shootings are the result of bullying and harassment. Therefore the bullying of one person can hurt more than just that person, it could jeopardize the welfare of many. 

      If you can't send your children to school without worrying about what could happen to them, doesn't that mean something needs to change. In America alone, there are 2.1 million bullies, these numbers are unacceptable. If two-thirds of students believe that the school's response to bullying is ineffective or doesn't occur enough, that should be enough to realize that more needs to be done, but what? How do we fix a problem that has gotten so far out of control and appears to be a normal, daily occurrence within the schools?

      Fixing the problem is going to require time, effort, and dedication, but if we want ALL our children to have a better experience in and out of school this shouldn't be problem. Since the most common cause of bullying has to do with body size and appearance, creating programs within the schools that help increase self-esteem and confidence would most likely have a positive outcome. Furthermore, as sad as this is to say, I hear a lot of parents making comments in regards to the appearance and whatnot of other people, this needs to stop! Our kids are likely to copy what they hear from us, it is a natural response, children learn from their parents! Prevention must start at home before anywhere else. While researching this topic, I learned that schools with smaller classroom sizes and schools with easily understood rules of conduct had less violence and incidences of bullying, this is something to think about. I believe school board members should get more involved with this issue, maybe getting together with other schools to discuss what policies and discipline measures they have in place for bullying would provide better insight. Schools could then create a policy that actually works. If so many teachers don't see a problem with bullying (1 in 4), then the schools need to address this issue as well. Perhaps they could implement awareness programs where victims of violence and bullying come and talk with the schools. This could help the teachers and students alike see what effects bullying can truly have on individuals and communities. If parents and schools worked together and took  this issue more seriously, a solution could be within reach!!

Reference: www.dosomething.org 

Introduction To Life, Politics, Randomness

       So this whole blogging thing is new to me, so bare with me as I get used to it. I will try my best to keep you all informed and hopefully entertained. I figured the best way to start my blog is with a post about myself. I believe it's fair that you know a little bit about who is writing and perhaps give you a better connection to me as a writer.

       I am a 30 year old wife, as well as mother of a 7 year old and a 3 year old. My family is everything to me, as you will probably learn through many of my life and randomness blogs, the political blogs will be a bit different, naturally. The reason why I chose "Life, Politics, Randomness" for the title of my blog is because I wanted a blog that included many different topics, not just one. When the election is over I will probably change the title to simply "Life and Randomness" then again maybe not, guess it depends on how I feel and the outcome of the election. 

       Ok so back to my family....My husband 'Chris' is everything to me. He is the backbone of this family, although if you ask him he may deny it and then say its me that's the backbone, just because that's the way he is, but I know the truth! He supports this family in so many ways, one of which is by working long hours to make the money we need to survive. With him working so much, it allows me to stay home and raise our kids, which I think is extremely important and a wonderful opportunity for us to have. So when he's not working, he spends ALL his free time at home, another wonderful plus, because trust me if I had to be here all by myself taking care of the house, the cooking, the cleaning, the kids, etc. without any help I don't know how I would manage. Major kudos to the single parents out there who have to do it all alone. My kids have the benefit of having him here enjoying every minute he possibly can with them and I have the benefit of having his help with everything while he's home, plus I get to spend much needed time with him while he's not working. We would be lost without him, hence the reason I say he's the backbone of this family!

        Now onto my two angels..Giavanna is our oldest, she will be 7 in November. I chose the name Giavanna for two reasons: One it means Joann in Italian, which is my grandmother and my aunt's name, as well as my middle name. My aunt was murdered when she was 18. The second reason was I wanted to call her Gia, after one my favorites movies 'Gia' which stars one my favorite actresses as well. When I found out I was pregnant with her, our whole lives changed, but definitely for the better. Once she was born there was no turning back, but it was definitely worth it. During her 7 years, she has had a lot of struggles. She was born with exotropia, which is where both her eyes wandered out. In addition, she has nystagmus, which is where her eyes shake uncontrollably! She has had two eye surgeries to fix the eye issues, however I am starting in last couple weeks to notice her eyes going out again. She is probably going to need another eye surgery here soon. :(               In addition, her nystagmus has contributed to her having ADHD, which is another topic ill get into in another blog. Overall she is doing well and is in 1st grade right now and of course is still the light of our eyes!!

       Our next angel is Gianni (I know, I know the names r quite similar lol) . Gianni is going to be 3 in January. The reason we named him Gianni is because we wanted another unique, Italian name like our daughters and it means John in Italian. John is my husband's dads name, so Not only did we get choose unique name, he also gets to be named after his grandpap (we nicknamed him Johnny). Gianni hasn't had an easy start either, just like his 'sissy' . He got really sick when he was three months old and was in and out of hospital until they finally figured out he was allergic to dairy and soy. He was extremely sick and was very emotional seeing him like that. The gastro doctor prescribed him prescription formula and he slowly started to get better, however, he is very limited on what he can eat because just about EVERYTHING has soy in it. Gianni is my cuddlier, unlike his sister, he loves to be hugged and kissed..I love it! I think Gia is not as cuddly and hugging all the time due to her ADHD, but don't get me wrong she still likes cuddle , just not an frequently as her brother...I think it's a girl thing, I have heard boys are more attached than girls, but I could be wrong!

       So this ends my first post, it is probably a little different format than what you will find in my other posts, but I needed to give you all background of my family, since they are my life!