Back To School: a third of students will be bullied. Here is what we can do about it.

Previously, I posted on school security measures as response to the national school safety debate. However, I believe that schools must be protected from threats both inside and outside their walls. Within the mental health segment of the issue lies one key cause of suffering in schools: bullying. In 2016, National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) found that 33 percent of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they were bullied at least once or twice a month during the school year. This figure shows that bullying is a chronic issue.

In 1999, two ex-bully victims killed thirteen people in the Columbine Massacre. Georgia was the first state to enact anti-bullying laws only months later. For the next 10 years, we saw the culture shift. Movies and documentaries premiered detailing kids’ experiences with bullying, the media reported on extreme cases, and schools and governments began to make change. The federal government began collecting data on school bullying in 2005, when the prevalence of bullying was around 28 percent.

Some may say it is a hopeless effort, that kids will always be mean to each other. There will always be some bullying. But for victims, the cruelty is pervasive. It follows them home on the internet and social media. Even worse, the issue is not limited to kids bullying other kids. One shocking example is that a Miami educator voted 2017 “Teacher of the Year” is under investigation for reportedly verbally bullying one of her students–a five-year-old child.

Teachers must know their power and influence to end bullying. They must be equipped to notice and respond to the signs of bullying, and we must hold them accountable to do so. States must continually update their anti-bullying laws and policies to keep them relevant to our changing climate and technologies. Schools must ensure that their anti-bullying programming and policies are evidence-based, and really speak to their students.

Amidst the school safety debate and rise of social media, it is more imperative than ever to fight bullying with programming, research and policy. School security measures like secure entrances and visitor screenings are important, as I’ve written before, but they will only go so far. We must defend threats to schools coming from in and out of their walls. To fully protect our students, we have to fight mental health issues by treating one of its sources, bullying.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eathyn Has the Croup

At one a.m. Eathyn started crouping in his crib.  It was bad!  Every single time he breathed out he would croup really bad.  I took him into the bathroom and started the hot water.  The steam subsided the severity of his cough but he was still sounding bad.  I put him in bed with Brett and I when he started to panic in his crib because of the cough.  While I was in there I gave him some ice water and that immediately started to break up the cough.  Interesting.... is croup that simple, all it needs is some nice cold ice water???? I was glad to come across a remedy that was so simple.  While I was laying there I started thinking about the events of the evening before and told Brett about something really funny that had happened.  Every morning when Mariela's nurse Marilyn walks through the door Eathyn use to ask for candy.  After a couple days of this I thought, "is he too young to learn to say good morning instead of, 'can I have some ca...
Read more

Growing up too soon!

Image
June 24, 2023 We have all called these two “The Little Boys” since the day Ryan was born and I have always called Eathyn Little Boy Blue and Ryan Tiny boy blue. I was sitting at the air port this week seeing the Little Boys (Eathyn’s almost 15 and Ryan’s going on 13) off to Georgia to stay with Hannah and Austin for a week. Austin’s out there selling pest control for the summer. He also just closed on his dream ranch that’s 303 acres in Arkansas. I am so impressed and so proud of his grit! He’s only 25 years old!  As I was sitting there with the little boys, a Flight attendant came to pick them up and walk them onto the airplane. As they stood up, I looked at them next to each other and realized I felt like I had never seen them in the light I was seeing them in at that moment. They were so big and so incredibly cute and so incredibly handsome all at the same time. I wanted to capture that moment and remember it forever, but the flight attendant whisk them away! I called out to Rya...
Read more

Honoring Family with Family this July 4th

Image
(AP Photo/Kamenko Pajic)   Honoring Family with Family this July 4th Happy 4th of July from my family to yours! My Independence Day plans are traditional: tossing burgers and hotdogs on the grill, surrounded by laughing family and friends.  We will watch the fireworks together at night and get to bed after a great day. But for my plans to be truly patriotic, I need to do more than hang an American-flag-printed banner over the picnic table. I need to reflect, remember and honor those who have and are currently serving in our country’s armed forces. Our troops fiercely fight for our freedoms each day. Many of us can only imagine what it is like to be deployed, to go months or even years without seeing those we love most in this world.  For many, it is hard to grasp how these people feel. To better understand their experiences, I looked online for the stories of those serving this country. I came across “Stories of Service,” an enlightening series of short videos...
Read more