A Way to Stop Bullying
Well, it’s Mid-October, which means it’s almost November… which means it’s almost Thanksgiving, which I can hardly believe! Anyways, I just learned that October is National Bullying Prevention Month. I’d never heard that before and was pleasantly surprised by it because bringing these topics to light is so important. I looked it up and found the National Bullying Prevention Month website, which has articles, tips, and resources about bullying and how to deal with it. I think that’s very important information, but here's the tricky thing about writing or talking about bullying; it can give other kids ideas about how to bully people. To prevent that, I’d suggest putting cameras all over schools and playgrounds so that bullies can be held accountable. Even teachers sometimes get away with inappropriate things that make kids feel bullied, and that needs to change.
This is the world that we live in now; it’s almost like we’ve stepped into the past when nobody was talking about these issues or how to solve them. Bullying has gotten so bad that adults are bullying each other, it’s not just kids in school anymore. We’ve even seen bullying lead to school shootings, so now kids have to go through metal detectors to start their day, and have police on their campus. Schools are going to have to be treated like prisons almost, and teachers will become more correctional officers than educators.
The solution to this is communication. I feel that parents are not talking to their kids enough; they need to be asking about their days at school, or if they are having problems at school, and help their kids open up about it. Parents need to teach their children by example. Simple questions and reminders like “if you are having problems at school it’s ok to talk to us about it” can help kids open up. You may even find that your kid is doing the bullying, but you can help them unlearn that behavior with open discussions, or even in therapy if they won’t talk to you about it. Children need to be heard, not ignored.