I mentioned in my blog yesterday about bullying and what parents should do at home if their child is a victim of a bully. Today, let’s talk about what the school should be doing to prevent bullying.
To begin with, every school needs a bully-proof plan and every student needs to know exactly what is expected of them if bullying occurs or if a student decides to bully. This means a school-wide training. Yes, it seems like a chore, and yes your child really should be in class learning academic skills. Unfortunately, in today’s world, bullying is a huge issue and one way to prevent it is through education.
Schools should, at the beginning of each school year, go over their bully policy, like the ideas here, with every student. A good way to do this is at a school-wide assembly. Staff and administrators may even want to role-play scenarios in which bullying is occurring and incorrect and correct responses to each scenario.
Your child’s school needs signs throughout the school, hung up in noticeable places that promote their No Bully policy. Signs should also be posted that state something about not being afraid to tell on a bully. Things like this should be visible throughout the school. Signs like these can remind children that bullying is wrong and what to do in case it happens.
Besides the school-wide bully training and the signs posted, the school needs a set-in-stone discipline policy when it comes to bullying. Every student needs to know exactly what happens, even on the first strike. Your child’s school should be taking bullying seriously and a first offense of bullying should warrant a hefty consequence. Many schools are going towards a Zero Tolerance policy when dealing with bullying. See if your school is one of them.
Sometimes I am a bit sad that schools even need policies like these. It really makes me wonder what the world is coming to when we have children, even elementary age children, victims of some pretty horrible bullying. It makes me scared for my children. I know the world is a much different place then when I was growing up. This makes me really wish for those days, when the most I had to worry about at school was whether I’d be the winner at four-square during recess. I really wish that was all students these days had to worry about.
What is your child’s school doing about bullying? How do you feel about it as a problem at your school? Share with me, I may even have a response with another blog!