Zack was a middle school student who was continuously bullied due to a limp he had that was caused by juvenile athritis. While Zack seemed happy on the outside, inside he was falling apart, and eventually planned on killing himself. Zack's school was completely unaware of what was going on, and even his family was dismissive when he (infrequently) complained. Thankfully, his parents intervened just in time, followed by his principal, and in the end, the bullying was resolved.
While Zack's story may seem unique, sadly Zack is one of many. According to O'Brien (2013) a whooping thirty two percent of students report having been bullied. In my opinion there are a couple of interventions that are and / or should be put in place to prevent such instances from occurring. I've shared my thoughts and findings below...
The School Environment: Unfortunately, too often schools allow bullying to occur by fostering an environment that permits intolerance. Incredibly, one school in Murray Country GA allowed students to come to school wearing nooses, in mockery of their classmate who committed suicide due to bullying just the day before. (Dubreil, 2010) It's hard to believe such a shameful and despicable act can take place in a school. School leaders must go out of their way to ensure their students are tolerant, empowered and aware, so that bullying can become a thing of the past.
The School Policy: Elias (2014) stresses that while schools must employ anti-bullying policies, they should not overuse the term bully, since "there are many peer misbehaviours that may not conform to the formal definition of bullying, but still have no place in schools." Instead, schools would do well to set down a clear code of conduct and outline a "what-happens" procedure in the event that bullying occurs. Students must be made aware of these policies, so that they realize that their school has zero tolerance for such behaviours. School should also have a mandatory anti-bullying oath that all students are required to take and that is strictly reinforced.
Teachers' Intervention: Gardiner-Halstead (2015) lists a number of ways that teachers can combat bullying. She suggests (1) teaching acceptance (2) modernizing our thinking (3) adapting our strategies (4) including compassion in the curriculum (5) avoiding labels (6) involving the community (7) including the arts and (8) starting early. Teachers should study each of these points in depth in order to ensure that they are doing their utmost to educate, prevent, and protect their students.
Parents' Involvement: According to Cohn-Vargas (2016) the first step in combatting the bullying epidemic is educating parents. "Parents need to... be able to support their children in being safe at school, in not engaging in bullying behaviours, and in safely intervening or reporting bullying to an authority." Through having parents involved, students will be surrounded by messages of bullying-intolerance and non-discriminatory understanding at all times.
Cohn-Vargas, B. (2016) Successful Community Efforts to Prevent Bullying in Schools. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/successful-community-efforts-preventing-bullying-becki-cohn-vargas
Dubreuil, J. (2010) Bullied to Death in America's Schools. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/2020/TheLaw/school-bullying-epidemic-turning-deadly/story?id=11880841
Elias, M. (2014) Bullying Prevention: Students Share Do's and Don'ts. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/bullying-prevention-students-share-dos-donts-maurice-elias
Gardiner-Halstead, A. (2015) 8 Steps to Combat the Bullying Epidemic. Edutopia. Retireved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-steps-combat-bullying-epidemic-ann-marie-gardinier-halstead
O'Brien, A. (updated 2013) Bullying Prevention: 5 Tips for Teachers, Principals and Parents. Edutopia. Retireved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/bullying-prevention-tips-teachers-parents-anne-obrien
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