School bullies have always been an issue and schools have always been trying new things to "stop it". Something tells me they really don't have a clue what to do & some of the things they come up with like the "No tolerance" is total bullshit. To start off, NO ONE ANYWHERE can put an end to bullying so that thought needs to be tossed right away. People are people & kids are kids, it's going to happen. The most we can do is get the numbers down and let the bullies know that it isn't tolerated anywhere along with protecting the victims as much as we can.
The Problems
Schools take different approaches but all seem to do nothing including protecting the victim. There is something wrong with this picture. Sometimes the kids (both bully & victim) just gets talked to, sometimes the victim also gets in trouble when all they were doing was protecting/defending themselves (more on that later), the victim is not believed or is told they deserve it or they need to man up/get over it, the victim gets told something will be done but nothing does or not much of anything gets done. Oh and can't forget how the bully gets time off from school when they bully someone. : / Please, what kid wouldn't like time away from school? The bully just keeps on doing what they do and sometimes gets worse. The victims feel helpless, scared & alone. What is a victim to do when they feel like they have no where to go & no one to turn to?
Another problem is when teachers turn the other way when they know a kid is being bullied. They pretend they don't know what is going on for whatever reason (I know not all teachers are like this & the other things I will talk about, I am talking about the ones that do do these things). It could be, "it's not that big of a deal, they deserved it, I don't want to/can't deal with it when I got a whole class to deal with" whatever else they say as an excuse. What is just as bad is when a teacher themselves are the bully or just becomes apart of it. Like if a student tells a teacher what is going on but the teacher tells them to "ignore them, it will go away, soon you won't have to deal with them, stop being a wuss" ect ect. In a case of a kid being gay, a teacher may even tell that kid that they need to stop being gay or acting gay & that there is something wrong with them & that is why they are being picked on. Whatever the case may be, this really needs to stop.
Some PE games cater the bullies. I don't know about every PE game that is played but I do know of one and that is dodge ball. To me, this game is violent & gives the stronger people a chance to try & over power the "weaker" ones. I hate this game.
Bullying is done in elementary, middle, high and even in colleges. It's there & there is no way around it. Bullies are just people who are afraid themselves, gets beat up at home & needs an outlet, have their own issues of insecurities but won't admit it, likes to feel powerful over others, has been taught to look down upon those who are different & just for someone reason feels anyone who is different is a freak. This of course is not an excuse but they are reasons why it happens.
I hate when I hear/see some people sit there and say "well I was bullied & turned out ok so the kids today just need to get over it" or something to that extent. Yes a lot of us make through being bullied BUT those feelings have a lasting effect. Sometimes you can't just get over it. Some cases are a lot worse than others. My generation & those before me only had to deal with face to face bullying which was bad enough. Today, kids get bullied by so many different ways that it has a different effect on our kids then it did us older people. Kids now get bullied & degraded through the internet. So even once home from school, they are still being attacked through cyber space. They don't have a safe place anymore.
I have had my fair share of being bullied through my years at elementary school and by a dean in high school. In elementary I had kids pick on me for no reason, causing me to spend every recess of every day alone. I was told I was slow & had a learning disability by my teachers (which I don't, I just learn different) and for 1 year was bullied by my special ed teacher. I was cast aside for 7th grade because there wasn't enough room in the class room. Instead of making room, they kept me & a few other minorities out since we were slow anyways & had to sit in the 6th grade class to learn 7th grade work on our own. Then put in 8th grade with no 7th grade education. In high school during my 12th grade, a girl was saying threatening things. I went to the dean to let them know so they could handle it & I was told that if I went to him with any more about this situation, I would be suspended & not be able to graduate! I went to him BECAUSE I didn't want to get suspended if I had to face this girl. So I know how these kids are feeling when no one listens.
Since this is so long, I will continue on another page. (continued)
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