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Prevent School Bullying: Bullying can damage people for life
Bullying remains a key issue at most schools today. Everyone needs to feel that they belong. Many teenagers cry themselves to sleep, aching to fit in.
I have personally walked through John Gray High School campus and seen a few incredibly lonely and vulnerable young students stifling to fit into an environment that seemed too harsh for their delicate natures.
Or the all-important school cafeteria, where yet again I see lonely wall flowers with their heads down, sometimes birched at the end of lunch tables pretending to be invisible.
In contrast, there will always be the cool kids, who appear to have it all, the obviously smart kids, the eccentric but wonderfully creative kids etc.
Please note that I have nothing against the age-old stereotypes or groups that you will ultimately find at any school; what I do have a problem with is bullying in our schools.
I have not been blessed as yet with children of my own, but it is my intention to assist with the reduction of the number of cases involving bullying in our schools.
It is my hope that in this process, I am able to assist with the creation of a more cohesive environment which is healthier, kinder and overall more tolerant of those who are different by enriching the hearts and minds of this generation and the generations to come.
So how can we as a nation, renowned for our kindness, counteract issues of discrimination in our schools, bullying and different types of biases in relation to gender, ethnicity and class?
How can we as World Leaders, Politicians, Preachers, Teachers, Students and every hardworking community leader facilitate the needs of our fellow pupils in spite of their class, ethnicity or gender?
How can we become champions for this great cause, known as “Preventing School Bullying “when we consider each of our schools policies and classroom procedures?
Well, I don’t pretend to know these answers right now, but I am ambitious enough to do my research and analysis and share my findings as I have started to do as seen below:
Jodee Blanco
Jodee Blanco is one of the pre-eminent voices on the subject of bullying.
She is a survivor, expert and activist as well as the author of The New York Times bestselling memoir, Please Stop Laughing At Me… One Woman’s Inspirational Story.
A chronicle of her years as the student outcast, the book inspired a movement among bullying victims everywhere of all ages–in middle and high schools, on college campuses, at the workplace, and at home.
She is also a youth advocate and the creator and executive producer of the critically acclaimed It’s NOT just joking around! anti-bullying program.
Her advice for students
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If you’re a victim of bullying, remember, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s everything that’s right about you that makes you stand out from the crowd. Don’t change for anyone.
It is those who put you down and exclude you who need to change.
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Never ignore the bullying and walk away. You must look the bully in the eye without any emotions or fear, command him/her to stop, and then stare them down long enough for them to know you mean business.
Sometimes this works! Always defend your dignity and your pride. Remember, standing up for yourself nonviolently in the moment that abuse occurs is your basic human rights. Seeking vengeance later on is the mistake.
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Don’t suffer in silence. Confide in an adult you trust that you’re being bullied and need help.
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School doesn’t have to be your whole world even though it may sometimes seem that way. Seek an alternative social outlet like the public library, local park, or various community centers.
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If you see someone being bullied and don’t want to be a bystander, you have two options. Intercede on the victims behalf and tell the bullies to stop or devise a clever excuse to pull the victim away from the situation.
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If you think you may be a bully or an Elite Tormentor, recognize that it’s not just joking around. You may be damaging someone else’s life for a lifetime.
Stop and think about that for a moment. The next time you abuse or shun another classmate, or the worst of all, treat him/her as if their invisible.
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Always remember that bullying isn’t just the MEAN things you do, it’s all the NICE things you never do on purpose.
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Another thing, If you see a classmate is struggling to fit in or being maligned (means to have someone say unpleasant, vicious and untrue things about someone), tell a teacher or counselor. It could change that person’s life and it could save yours.
You never want what happened at the Columbine High School or Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton to happen at your school too.
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Don’t be afraid of professional help. Be honest with everyone, including yourself. Your not crazy!
A school bus passes a makeshift memorial to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as it takes students to Newtown High School December 18, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Students in Newtown, excluding Sandy Hook Elementary School, return to school for the first time since last Friday’s shooting at Sandy Hook which took the live of 20 students and 6 adults. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
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Pay attention to other classmates who may be experiencing some of the same loneliness and rejection you are experiencing and reach out to them in friendship. You could end up forging bonds that will last a lifetime.
What is “Academic Bullying" ?
That’s when a student or group of students purposely make it difficult for a classmate to perform academically. For example, if your assigned a book report and another classmate checks out the book you need and keeps it just so you can’t have access to it for your assignment, that’s academic bullying.
What role does ethnicity play in school bullying?
When ethnic groups bully each other, it can be hurtful and infuriating, but at least “intended targets” can lean on others within their own group for support. It’s damaging however when the members of an ethnic group turns on one of their own, because that person is now not only bullied from the outside but also shunned on the inside. Wow!
Cases like these frequently have long-term emotional and psychological consequences.
Can sibling rivalry have an impact on school bullying?
Jodee Blanco also states that sibling rivalry can be the early breeding ground for bullying behaviors. It’s important that parents do not allow sibling rivalry to flourish, because if children don’t learn compassion early on, in the home, they will bring that same lack of empathy to school.
Generation K (True Lies)
Everyone lies at one time or another including me. Lying is a universal talent. Some people can do it rather well. Most little kids start practicing the skill as soon as they master language.
When you look at it objectively it seems the ability to lie is part of everyone’s kit of survival tools, a side effect of possessing language skills. There are a lot of situations in which the ability to lie is extremely useful.
For instance, there are times when you might have to lie to protect yourself or someone else. Or you might have to lie just to defend your personal privacy. People lie all the time to diffuse a tense social situation or to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or even to calm someone who is frightened.
The way I see it, if people couldn’t lie, they probably wouldn’t be able to live together in groups, at least not for long or with any degree of sociability. The bottom line is- if humans could not lie, civilization as we know it would cease to exist.
According to Noreena Hertz, an author and commentator who, among other roles, advises world leaders on strategy, economics, geopolitical risk and artificial intelligence, stated that Generation K, sometimes referred to as Generation Z, has been fundamentally shaped by technology and spends a third of their day on different social media platforms online.
As the keynote speaker at the Royal Fidelity Cayman Economic Outlook Conference held on February 28th 2019 at the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, Ms. Hertz offered insights into this generation, which she says will make up approximately one third of the global workforce by the year 2022.
“Generation K” is made up of people born between 1994 and 2003. The “K” originates from the film franchise heroine with whom the generation’s members most identify: Katniss Everdeen of “Hunger Games”.
They have also been shaped by the worst recession in recent years, the financial crisis of 2008, job insecurities and a lack of financial optimism.
Not to mention existential threats forged by the Manchester and Paris terrorist attacks, the rise of Al Qaeda and Isis, several terrorist attacks and multiply school shootings in many of their home cities.
Unfortunately, this generation has been desensitized from an early age to violence due to the repetitive and constant exposure experience in various ways as they grow.
She states that it is not that the world had all of a sudden become garbage, but now many children and young adults’ own smartphones which never leave their side.
Unsupervised access to the internet, grants children many opportunities to bully others and be bullied. To view explicit videos and information and sometimes encounter sinister recruitment websites.
Ms. Hertz believes that because this generation saw the world as unequal and harsh, the impact is now making them extremely anxious.
She says, statistics show that in the US, more than one in five high school students had contemplated suicide, and in the UK, there had been a threefold increase in the number of teenagers who self-harmed.
Although her research was primarily focused in the United States and the United Kingdom, she has also conducted limited studies in other western European countries as well.
She continues to state that this generation strongly believes in equality. Economic, educational, racial, gender and social equality.
They also are concerned about global issues like global poverty, global hunger and climate change.
Generation K has had to master the art of true lies in order to survive.
Also visit Joint Action Against Homophobic Bullying Project (JAAHB) at the following link: https://www.intercomtrust.org.uk/