In order for children to be successful in school, they need to feel safe in their learning environment. This includes a bully-free school environment.
Kids and teens who are victims of bullying can suffer from physical symptoms and injuries, depression, anxiety, fear and low self-esteem. Some kids have turned to suicide as an alternative.
5.4 Million children miss school every day due to the fear of being bullied. Since 1992, there have been 250 violent deaths in our schools and bullying has been a factor in several school shootings.
All states in the U.S. have Anti-Bullying legislation. Yet, few schools enforce the policies.
Some school administrators feel that “bullying is a right of passage” or that “kids need to toughen up.” Many just don’t take it seriously. Some don't want to be bothered and some are simply not trained properly in how to handle these situations.
It is time for school administrators, teachers and faculty to take the issue of Bullying VERY seriously. It can no longer be swept under the rug.
Schools should have bullying incident reports and a teacher/faculty committee that works closely with students and with safe school and community parent led committees. Parents should be encouraged to join.
Schools should also encourage peer mentoring groups who can adopt the STOMP Out Bullying™ campaign and allow students to create a safe NO BULLYING community within the school.
When educating students it is critical to teach Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Schools that practice this will find that their students display positive behaviors.
We can’t blame our children for failing when our schools are failing them.
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