Jun 03 2008
Speak Up and Take a Global Stand Against Bullying
As an educator or parent have you ever been bullied as a child or as an adult or had a student in your class or child of your own who has been the victim of bullying? If you have, then you are acutely aware of the emotional and physical impact of bullying on adults and students of all ages around the world. Yet the negative impact of bullying goes beyond the individuals involved. Everyone in the school, not just the targeted victims, suffers considerably when a hostile environment that supports bullying is tolerated.
This is the conclusion of Anita Gurian, Ph.D., of the New York University Child Study Center and author of an education.com article titled “The Emotional Toll of Bullying in Schools.” In her article she states that the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports, “50% of children are bullied and 10% are victims of bullying on a regular basis.” These students “have reported they suffered side effects of bullying – a drop in grades, an increase in anxiety, a loss of social life.”
Her recommendations for parents (and teachers) include speaking up and taking action to bring bullying out in the open by:
· helping your child know that he/she is not to blame
· teaching your child how to react when bullied
· working with the school to ensure that the school environment is safe and that bullies are “reprimanded in an appropriate manner and…steps are taken to spread anti-bullying messages.”
All children around the world deserve a teaching and learning environment that allows them to feel safe, accepted and valued as individuals who all look and learn differently and who all possess unique gifts. We can help to create this safe learning environment when we model assertive communication skills and teach these same skills to our children.
These skills, which are a part of the Conscious Discipline program by Becky Bailey, empower individuals of all ages to speak with both respect and clarity to each other. This respect and clarity leads to healthy boundaries that are the key to all positive relationships in our families, schools and places of work.
With bullying in our schools so pervasive and yet so often ignored, it’s time to speak up and take a global stand against bullying. We must equip our children with assertive communication skills and work together as parents and educators to address the issue of bullying. You can learn more about strategies that will help your child by checking out the Conscious Discipline or Stop Bullying Now websites listed in the blogroll.
Once we take the steps to break the cycle of violence that bullying represents, we can truly build the foundation for world peace in every home, classroom and community.
