Putting An End To Bullying

School should be seen as a safe environment for students to further their education and spend time with their friends. No one should ever be afraid of going to school. For students who are bullied, this is not the case. In schools at every grade level, bullying can have terrible effects on students who do not fit in with the popular group. Teenagers try so hard to be liked and accepted by other students, but in many cases, this will not happen. They are bullied each and every day and as this continues, their self esteem drops. Students who are bullied do not want to be in school so they do not see school as a safe place. Jodee Blanco experienced a similar situation when she was in middle school and high school. During her visit to Decorah High School, she shared her personal story of how she was bullied each day at school and how she dreaded going to school for all of those years. She gave parents and teachers ideas of how to deal with the students who are bullying others and ideas about how to help those who have been bullied. Even though some of her advice would not necessarily work with all children, we need to do all that we can to help children who bully others realize the effects that their bullying can have on other children. We also need to help the children who dread coming to school by encouraging them to become involved in activities to meet new friends and help them realize that they are important and should not be tormented by their classmates. Bullying is a serious issue in schools. As teachers, we need to watch out for signs of bullying in the hallways, cafeteria, and at recess, because students will not likely bully others in the classroom; it would be too easy for them to get caught in the classroom. We need to be aware of what goes on outside of our classrooms to see the amount of bullying that really goes on and confront those responsible for making their classmates miserable in school.

http://www.jodeeblanco.com/media_room_video.htm