Thoughts on Bullying

Greetings Friends,
 I awoke this morning, like every other, by switching on my tune in app and listening to the Kyle and Jackie O show on 2day fm. They were discussing the new movie Bully that has been released recently. The movie is a documentary following the lives of different families who's lives have been touched, or are being touched, by bullying in schools. Jackie O spoke specifically of two families featured in the movie, one of which was in the process of working in conjunction with the school in overcoming the bullying issues being faced. The response was lacklustre to say the least and the conversation quickly turned to what responsibility school teachers have in preventing or even stopping bullying.

This got me thinking about how I, given the issues of equity of child protection needed for each and every child in the school, would deal with an obvious issue of bullying.

This is a really difficult topic, especially for teachers. To be honest, if I was the parent in an ongoing situation of bullying I would remove my child from the situation before I attempted to resolve anything with the school or the other family. Sometimes I hear about children or teenagers who have taken their own lives due to the severity of bullying they are experiencing at school and wonder how it has been allowed to go on for so long, not just from the perspectives of the school, but from the perspectives of the family. Surely their child's happiness is more important than ensuring they complete their education on track. Why not just pull them out? Home school, a different school, move to another area, ANYTHING that will help them through this traumatic experience???

Although, in relation to the responsibilities of the families, I do understand how difficult it would be to get the full perspective of what their child is going through. It would be a viscous cycle; as a result of the bullying the child would become withdrawn, this stops them from talking to anyone or opening up about anything, this means that they wouldn't necessarily discuss the extents of this with their family. I cannot even begin to imagine the intense loss and sadness that would come with the loss of a child, not for a second, and nor am I trying to. My comments above in no way intend to blame the families for the horrific events that have taken place in the past and, unfortunately, will again in the future. I am simply venting my own thought processes upon hearing of such extreme cases.

But as teachers, the duty of care is not solely for the bullied child. In a perfect world some children would be bad and some would be the victims and things would be just black and white and we could solve them as such.
We all know this is not the case, and our societies are filled with a rich tapestry of colours, cultures, values and passions. Although a child being bullied is totally UNACCEPTABLE and, as an adult, I consider those who pick on people to make themselves feel better absolutely disgraceful, it is really important to also consider where these kids, the bullies, are coming from.

The facts are that the way that teachers treat a child will impact them for the rest of their life. It could mean the difference between a child growing up to become a confident, curious and self assured individual or to become an angry, confused or violent part of society. Without the right amount of care, attention and connection from a role model in their life how will a child know how to deal with the complex emotions that come with every day life?

Let's face it. The sad truth is that not all children receive this from their parents, and in some awful cases  the bullying behaviour may even be learned from home.

I can't speak for every teacher around the world, but I would hope that most teachers would agree with my notions that each and every child deserve the best start in life, and although the bullies may seem like they don't deserve the consideration and care that they have so callously taken away from the unfortunate victims of their taunts, I think that in some cases the teacher may be all they've got.

What schools should be doing is looking at the emotional and mental wellbeing of the children enrolled and ensuring their is adequate education and information spread surrounding the topics of mental health. I wish for this topic to transform from the awkward and uncomfortable issue that children joke about and poke fun at into something that we can take seriously and address as such.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic, especially if you are a parent yourself.

Now all I have to do is see the movie for myself. Once I do I will most likely have a completely different view on the matter.

Speak soon,

Peace and Love

Serra xxxxxxxxxooooooooo