Bullying and Schoolyard Abuse
Stumbling Blocks to Safety in the Learning Environment
Bullying.What can you do about it? Ensuring peace amongst young people at school is one step towards creating harmony on a larger level.
For many young people, school is hell because of bullying. They dread facing the taunts and jabs, both physical and emotional, and spend too much energy being worried and afraid than on learning. The emotional scars of bullying can carry long into adulthood and affect one's ability to be a confident, productive citizen.
Bullying can take a variety of forms. Physical bullying is often the most obvious. Emotional bullying concists of taunts and teasing. In today's world, new forms of bullying exist in high-tech forms such as harassing text messages.
Signs of Bullying
Do you suspect a young person in your life is being bullied? Here are some signs:
- The sudden appearance of bruises, scratches, scrapes, cuts.
- Emotional withdrawal.
- An unexplained reluctance to go to school.
These are the most obvious signs. In many cases, the young person may not let on at all about his or her situation. Even in cases of one being abused, the "code of the schoolyard," so to speak, dictates not to snitch.
Take Action Against Bullying
However, if you do find out that a young person close to you is being bullied, here are some steps you can take.
- Talk to the young person and reassure him/her that it is not her fault. It's a cliché, but most bullies are insecure about themselves and taking those insecurities out on someone else.
- Encourage the young person to tell a teacher or other adult in authority what is going on.
- Contact the parents of the bullying children to discuss the situation and hopefully come up with a solution.
Dialogue is always the preferable option. Violence is not solved by violence. That is how the cycle of abuse continues. There is also an unfortunate tendency for "the system" to re-victimize victims -- somehow put the blame on them.
Get Involved
Creating a climate of dialogue and tolerance is a step towards the elimination of bullying. First of all, the word "tolerance" is not always ideal -- after all, who wants to be simply "tolerated"? -- but sometimes it is the best we can do. Idealistic though we may be, no one is always going to love anyone in any large group of people. What sets us apart is how we deal with people with whom we don't get along or with whom we disagree. Most adults simply avoid each other in these situations, or deal with each other professionally when they do. Children may not yet have the maturity to be able to handle these kinds of situations. Some schools have enrichment activities or time set aside where kids can come together and share, without judgement. Encourgae your young people to take part, and if the school doesn't have one, talk to the administration. LIke with any form of direct action, being involved is key.
