Schools are not feeling as safe for many students as they once were. In fact on any given day 160,000 students stay at home due to fear of bullying or other forms of violence here in the United States. Everyone involved have concern in regard to the safety of children in school, from the children themselves to the parents and educators. Yet for many educators prevention and intervention is difficult due to a lack of specific training.
Added to this is the issue that many times both teachers and parents have certain beliefs that we will discuss in detail later that tend to cause them to overlook true bullying situations. When this overlooking occurs it leads the students to believe that the teacher or parent is not concerned or does not care or that they simply are unaware of the situation or problem leading them not to come forward to speak about the issue.
If there is one thing that the research shows it is that intervention by parents at home, and teachers in the schools, is required to reduce bullying and prevent its negative impact on our children today. Here are the 4 steps for parents and teachers that lead to that result.
1. Being proactive by learning as much as you can about the subject
2. Providing an environment that minimizes the opportunities
3. Supporting students/children with education in subjects that reach into the root causes of bullying
4. Modeling the type of behavior that we expect from our students/children
We can be the change we want to see for all schools and students.
This is a continuing dialogue on the subject of bullying for parents, teachers and students. I invite all to join us in the group Stop Bullies Group on this website. Together we can learn and make a difference in our community. If you have an experience or thoughts on this subject please comment and join with us in this effort.