Bullies - What To Do About Them?

[lilemi 0]

Bullies are definetly a super big topic now in schools, but the meetings barely help. Also, in a lot of cases, when teachers interfere it worsens the situation. The thing is, that if there's a small argument between let's say 5 girls, if a teacher steps in and 3 get in trouble but the other two get a way, the 3 will get mad. Then, they'll round up their buddies and form an alliance against the other 2. The 2 will do the same, if they still have friends. You can have massive feuds, and depending on the people violent feuds (sp?) over the most ridiculous topics. All so, lecturing kids about how bullying makes people feel bad also doesn't help. Every knows, by the age of 13 and up, that it hurts peoples feelings: it's happened to them at least once no matter who they are. Telling them to "put yourself in their shoes" is crazy redundant and only stimulates things like the kids in the back row saying things like "what if they're the wrong size? what if I dont want to be in their shoes?" and other smart comments. There really is no way to fix this except pay more attention to what kids do and SHOW THEM THAT YOU NOTICE WHEN SOMETHIN HAPPENS. If a kid is insulting another kid, a teacher should make eye contact. Sort of telling them "I see what you just did, don't let me see it again." I understand that teaching and learning are both hard jobs, and it boils down to how the parents have raised their kids. I feel bad for the teachers because lots of them really want to help, but with only less than one fourth of each child's time, you can only change their behaviour to a certain extent. You can teach them to apply themselves, but if they've been abused or neglected, learning might not be the most important thing. All you can do is talk about it, but how much does it help...?(I realize this post was extremely hippocritical.... No need to point it out.)