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