The first step in battling bullies is to understand what bullying is. Conflict and bullying are two different things. There will always be conflict among people, simply put, people don’t always agree. An argument is a conflict, it is not bullying. By definition, bullying is words and/or actions meant to control someone else. It includes consistent negative behavior on behalf of the bully and more often than not, the bully has a specific target.
Bullying is a Community Problem
The second step in eliminating bullying is to understand that it is a community problem, not a school issue. When people think of children and bullying they tend to think schools should handle it, another misconception. Bullying happens at school because that’s where the concentration of children are on a continual basis.
The bully is nothing new but the level of abuse and frequency has escalated bringing the topic out in the open more and more.
Getting Help to Deal with Bullying
Bill Belsey is an educator from Cochran, Alberta, and president of Bullying.org Canada. Just over a week following the April 28, 1999 shooting rampage that took place at a high school in Colorado, a 14 year-old boy opened fire at a high school in Taber, Alberta. Student Jason Lang was killed and another student wounded. Belsey felt he needed to take action and created the Bullying website. The site has valuable information for children, parents, educators and the community. He has travelled the globe with his presentation on Understanding Bullying as a Community Issue.
Ask Children About Bullying
When you want to know what’s going on in a child’s world, ask the children. Every school in Drayton Valley, Alberta allowed their students to participate in a survey. The questions asked were based on Belsey’s research. Principals of various schools added on a few questions they wanted answers to and it enhanced this survey. While this example focuses on one town, the results are not reserved for one community.
Seven schools and 17 classrooms participated for a total survey of 325 students. The age groups researched included students in grades 4 through 11. The questions and the students’ response are as follows.
- Have you ever been bullied? A total of 75 percent said yes.
- Have you ever bullied anyone? Answers ranged from 10 percent in Grade 4 to 100 percent in older grades.
- Do you know anyone that has been bullied? A total of 98 percent answered yes.
- Do you believe bullying should be stopped or is a problem? Again, 98 percent of children said yes.
The additional questions asked were directed at more than 100 of the junior high and high school students. Every student said bullying started in elementary school, every student believes that the bullying got worse in junior high and 90 percent of high school students believe bullying declined once they hit Grades 10 and 11.
The results of this survey were not a surprise to the principals of the schools. They are well aware bullying exists and every school that participated says they have a course of action to try and deal with the problem. Staff and students are aware of the negative impact of bullying and, as this survey shows, they see a need for a solution. Interviews with parents show they are not as aware as their children. Some believe bullying is just a way for kids to grow up, others who have experienced the victim’s side of physical, cyber and text bullying with their children have a different perspective on the issue.
Understanding bullying is just part of the solution to eliminating it. Recognition of the problem by parents and authorities can help children deal with the situation.
Sources:
Bullying (Bullying.org), Bill Belsey, President
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Lori Clark - Lori received her diploma in Writing for Children and Teenagers from the Institute of Children's Literature. She is completing an adult ...
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