Lecture: Bullying

Jodee Blanco's lecture on bullying at Decorah High School brought up a few memories from my own childhood. I wasn't physically bullied, or called names, but I was ignored and excluded. I still to this day, feel the repercussions of this exclusion, because I find myself asking out of habit: "Do my friends really like having me around? Are they talking to me just because they feel like they have to?" I know it's silly and irrational, because I've made some real and true friends since then, but ever since elementary school, I feel like I have to ask myself that question on a regular basis.

And that question is something that NO child should ever have to ask themselves.

We had workshops on bullying...but only once a year...and only in middle school. Workshops on bullying need to start in elementary school, and continue into both middle and high schools. They need to be more than just a day-long lecture or retreat. Kids will seem completely transformed after a day retreat, just to come back the next day and return to the same old routine. Bullying is a habit (for some students) that needs to be broken. Better yet, it's a habit that needs to be prevented. Anti-bullying and how to positively interact with other people should be intertwined with the school curriculum.

Educating students about diversity, and all of the ways people can be different from each other (not just skin color or religion, but with interests and lifestyles and etc.) will also help get rid of bullying. We as a human race fear the unknown. If someone is different than we are, and we don't understand why they are as they are, we fear them. When we are afraid, we enter defensive mode, and that can lead to bullying behavior.

I really agreed with her tips for how to deal with bullying, some of which are seen in the CNN clip below.



If we can help prevent bullying by educating our children about diversity and how to interact positively with other people in the classroom (along with parents teaching their children at home) from a young age, then drastic measures won't have to be taken to make kids feel welcome and safe in their own communities.