Bully Proof
After hearing several stories about bullies in my daughter‘s school, we had a discussion about how this behavior could be resolved and approached her school with these anti-bullying program ideas. Her school is now set on implementing a few.
PROBLEM: Teachers don’t always know how to handle the bullying behavior when it occurs.
SOLUTION: Discuss and equip the teachers with ways to deescalate situations. Teach them how to spot even subtle signs of bullying. It isn’t always obvious. Some children use fear tactics and other ways of bullying. It could mean exclusion, stealing and segregating.
PROBLEM: Children are afraid to leave the classroom to talk to couselors for fear that the bullies will notice the attempt to rectify it. They may even be afraid to come to an adult about it.
SOLUTION: Anonymous drop boxes scattered throughout the school to report bullying. Students may feel safer with ways to report issues anonymously.
PROBLEM: Bullying could begin at home. Sometimes children learn this behavior at home.
SOLUTION: This one is a bit tricky. You’ll always want to make sure that your kids are safe, but it takes a little bit of observation to find out if it’s a home issue. Then you have to go through certain City or State avenues to report these issues if it’s serious enough. If you notice your children bullying others, it’s worth the second look to determine the source of the behavior.
PROBLEM: Many schools still don’t have an anit-bullying program.
SOLUTION: Approach your school Counselors or Principal about implementing a program to better educate the students. Prevention is better than fixing it after the fact. The more students understand bullying behaviors, the better chance you have of preventing it from happening to begin with. Teach your children to look out for bullies. Teach them not to be afraid to report it. You never know if it could save someone’s life.
RESOURCES
www.stompoutbullying.org
www.stopbullying.gov/laws/texas.html
