By Brie Kishel, Contributor
School districts across New York State are scrambling to implement anti-bullying programs in order to conform to the “Dignity for All Students Act” (DASA). The legislation requires school districts to protect their students by prohibiting the harassment and discrimination of any student, reporting all bullying incidents that occur and enforcing swift and severe consequences for bullying behavior. As a result of this legislation, both students and staff are being taught or trained to recognize what constitutes “bullying” and how to proceed if they become a victim or witness bullying taking place in their school. Parents will also be receiving a wealth of information from the schools encouraging them to talk to their children and take part in the efforts of the school by reinforcing the Code of Conduct at home as well. It remains to be seen how receptive the students and teachers will be to the programs that are selected. Unfortunately, some of the more reputable programs are priced beyond the budget of many of the schools. At the same time, there are several schools that I have attended recently that have already implemented their own unique anti-bullying programs. Some of them are quite impressive and could potentially be shared with other districts.
Parents and siblings at home are going to play a significant role in the war on bullying. After all, it is a well-known fact that children tend to mimic the social interactions of their caregivers. It is time for us, as adults, to do some self-reflection in analyzing the way that we treat others and how that may be perceived by our children. Turn on the television and you will see “Housewives of New Jersey,” a classic example of female-to-female bullying, almost any of the children cartoons incorporate an antagonistic character that represents the bully in the show, and who can ignore the popularity of the colorful characters on the “Jersey Shore” series? Not exactly role model material for the anti-bullying campaign! Yes it’s true that parents should monitor their children’s viewing material, but everyone knows that the inappropriately – entertaining material that comprises these programs is available in many different forms and it would take a virtual superhero to block all of the cell phones, computers, kindles, iPads, etc. that find their way into the hands of young children. So then it falls back on us to model what is socially appropriate behavior.
So then what is the resolution to the bullying epidemic?
Will it be the “Dignity for All Students Act” that officially went into effect on July 1, 2012? Was it gaining public support in the form of almost $700,000.00 in donations to a bus aide who was being harassed by students? Is it playing on human emotions through the countless media stories of young children taking their own lives as a last resort to the torment they’ve experienced from their peers? It appears that there are many out there contributing to the hopeful demise, or at least decrease, of bullying incidents. But only time will tell which is the most effective approach to altering societal attitudes. Until that time comes it is up to each one of us, individually, to engage in the battle against bullying.
I was appalled watching Dancing with the Stars- the season that Chaz Bono was a contestant. The judge was demeaning and totally unprofessional towards Chaz referring to him as an overweight penguin after his dance to the Theme from the Phantom of the Opera. Today’s children do not have decent role models to look up to.
This is a great blog post and I completely agree with your points about the presence of bullying in the media and how parents and educators should engage themselves more with bullying prevention and intervention efforts. The Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention and Intervention at the University at Buffalo is a additional great resource for everyone (website above). I just wanted to make everyone aware that there are local organizations available that provide resources to schools, educators, parents, and students through consulting with the schools, posting valuable tools online, and promoting research on bullying which can be applied as preventative efforts in education. I love that this blog and the Museum of Disability is working to raise awareness- kudos to you for highlighting such an important issue!
I think this information is siniafgcint because we sometimes don’t think about how the bully might have once been the victim. We have to look at the whole individual, their background, their negatives and positives. If we only focus on their negatives and don’t help them to accentuate their positives they might never be able to grow and change.After getting to know Jake I thought back to some of my other students who also had issues with bullying others. Again most of the bullying incidents came from a prior incident in their community or on the bus. Now when I organize seating arrangements or collaborative groups I take into account who probably spends much more time together. Do they live in the same community? Ride the same bus? I use this information to determine who will work better together and who will not. I don’t totally group them on this one aspect, but it is a factor incorporated with many others now when I group or set up seating arrangements.I always want all of my children to feel safe and welcomed in my classroom and as a school. I think having open lines of dialogue are very important for this to happen. I make sure that the children feel like they can come to me without fear of ridicule whether they made good decisions or not. I really like to use community circle time to discuss any issues that students might be having in the class. I don’t single out individuals during this time; we talk as a group and share what we want to.I try to teach the students how to use different strategies for expressing their emotions other then hitting, threats, or things of that nature. We use role playing, games, self talk and other strategies during instructional time to foster those ideas as part of our classroom environment. I usually see the males benefit from these activities the most.At the end of the school year Jake had come a long way. He was much more expressive with his emotions in a positive way. He achieved greatly academically (which I knew he could do) but I think he even surprised himself. He did not bully others and had a good overall relationship with his classmates.
Brie,
Great blog post.
I completely agree with your argument about parental self-analysis. It’s much easier to point fingers but it takes a humble soul to ask: What can I do better as a role model to my son or daughter? Where legislation may lag and fail us at times, we all can become activists to stop bullying right now. But it will take the sobering task of swallowing our pride and looking at ourselves in the mirror.
Thanks for making such great points about the role that each one of us can play in preventing and intervening with bullying. The “resolution” to bullying is likely going to take concerted efforts on the part of educators, parents, students, and the larger society to create an atmosphere of caring and concern for others. As more and more people stand up and speak out (through words and actions) about how bullying is unjust, we are creating a movement of change. I appreciate Heather’s “shout out” for UB’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, and I just wanted to add the link to the website in case people want to know about the resources we have available gse.buffalo.edu/alberticenter
Keep up the great work!
Hi, Brie! I read both parts of your “The World as it Could Be” blog, and they were very interesting. I haven’t seen “Bully,” so it was helpful to read about the movie. Also, in the second part, I really liked how you emphasized that children mimic their caretakers’ behavior, so it falls on caretakers to exhibit socially appropriate behavior. Sometimes it would seem as if adults need more education on this topic so that they can always strive to act appropriately around their children.
Also, being a parent with a disability helps. Our oldest daughter, Bella (age six), is very comfortable and social around people with all types of disabilities, and our son, Carter (age three and-a-half), is a accepting of a girl in our neighborhood who has Down Syndrome when some other kids might think she is weird or not understand how to act around her.
I wonder if people like baseball player Jim Abbott (who has only one hand) were bullied as children. Then he grew up to become a successful Major League pitcher and get his picture on many baseball cards! I wonder how people who may have bullied him as a child felt when they saw how successful he became. So, my message is to be nice to everyone because you never know when your classmates, neighbors, peers, and other people you know might become famous one day or might be in a situation to help you one day when you desperately need help with something. This is how everyone should strive to live.