BULLYING

I worked as a teacher for many years and saw and intervened to some extent in incidents involving bullying. Last spring's  incident of a third grader with cerebral palsy being bullied to the point where she wanted to jump off of the school's window ledge, led me to attend a meeting on bullying. At this meeting , I learned that 1 out of  3 students in this country feel threatened by bullies. I would first like to make three points. The first is from the Stop Bullying Now website. "Bullying is no longer viewed as a rite of passage that all kids just have to endure. It is a form of abuse that can cause psychological, physical, and academic problems for children who are bullied." It can lead to death and suicide. Second, the number of children who feel threatened by bullies includes but is not limited to children trying to define their sexual orientation. Third, while most states have laws regarding bullying, legislation without family, community and professional support will not fix the problem.
I am going to share briefly two incidents I encountered after I retired, while working contractually. The first involved an eighth grader who didn't know he was going blind. He missed a shot in a basketball game and his teammates, kids he had grown up with, beat him up after school. They continued to bully and harass him about his increasing clumsiness. The parent when contacted did not think he was ready to learn of the seriousness of his eye problem. He subsequently brought a knife to school and was then charged with possession of a weapon. I was told to assess his educational status while he was in the midst of all this turmoil. He was later reassigned to a school which had more visually impaired students.
One of my resource students and his sister had a pet dog who got out of the yard. The dog was run over by the neighborhood bully who now had a car. This person had allegedly killed several cats in this manner. The sister was told of her dog's death when she got off of the school bus. She immediately became hysterical. The next day, when she got on the school bus, many kids taunted her. When she got to school, she shut herself in her locker. After talking to her, I was able to get her out of the locker. I kept her in the resource room that morning. I asked her and her brother what they thought I should do next. Naturally, all of the teachers and administration became involved. However, none of the family wanted to tackle the problem of the neighbor bully in the car.
On the Stop Bullying Now! website, the progression of bullies into more serious behaviors is discussed. The fact sheet that I found to be helpful and realistic on this site is entitled Providing Support to Children Who Are Bullied: Tips for School Personnel And Other Adults http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/ . There are good resources for kids on this website also.
A Canadian website devoted to this problem is http://www.bullying.org/ Teen celeb Demi Lovato has part of her website devoted to Teens Against Bullying. These are good resources also.
Be sure to wear purple on Wednesday October 20, 2010 Look for additional blogs on this topic Nov. 14-20 Stand Up to Bullying Week.