Recently, I was informed that a young man in my neighborhood had missed an enormous amount of school this past year. When I curried to find out why, I was informed he did not like attending the school because he was bullied and picked on by a group of students. The concern in the voice of his parent conjured up a few painful memories of my own regarding bullying.
I could relate to a great extent with what the young man was feeling. I also am able to empathize with the parent, as my own child has been bullied at school. However, working with school officials and other parents, we have been able to reduce a lot of the bullying. The rest lies with my child to ensure she is presenting herself respectfully and appropriately at all times (an ongoing issue for pre-teens).
As for the young man, it appears the bullying continued which resulted in an excessive amount of time out of school. What are parents to do? The issue of bullying is not a new phenomenon. Bullying today has reached a level never before imaged by many parents. When you factor in the technology, group bullying, Internet harassment, bullies have gained tremendous power.
If you recalled in a recent blog posting I discussed cyber-bullying and its impact on students. I also offered a few suggestions to parents on how to combat the issue, but the fact is cyber-bullying while increasing in nature, remains far less frequent when compared to the traditional forms of bullying.
Salome Thomas-El, principal of the Russell Byers Charter School located in Philadelphia offered an array of suggestions and comments on this subject in his interview with Upscale magazine. During his interview Mr. Thomas-EL proclaimed (and I agree) “The prevention of bullying is more effective than intervention” (Upscale, 2009). Mr. Thomas-El also stated it is his opinion that open communication between home and school, meaning parents, teachers and school administrators are talking honestly will help establish an environment where students feel comfortable and are free to express who they are.
To address the issue of bullying, parents should set the tone, model the behavior they expect from their children. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Discuss bullying at home
2. Define what bullying is and how it impacts students
3. if your child is being bullied contact school officials
4. Become an engaged parent and open lines of communication between home and school
5. Reduce the amount of TV viewing, especially programs where bullying and cliches forms of behavior are viewed as positive attributes
Together we can fight the issue of bullying.
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