As a society we are becoming more open about talking about bullying. But it is still an enormous problem for many children and even many adults. We are looking at strategies to help victims of bullying and for ways of teaching children how to protect them selves from bullies.
In my experience in teaching I think we need to look to the root and educate teachers and parents. Everyday I see teachers bullying children in many forms or see teachers giving children mixed messages about what to do about bullying. “Stand up for yourself”, but “never be rude, loud or rough”. “If someone does something you don’t like tell the teacher” but ” Don’t tattle”. I often see children who are conflicted because they have not been taught any correct conflict resolution skills. Teachers are constantly sorting out children’s problems, often unfairly.
I think it is time we start to look at how we are treating children and we will quickly see where the bullying behaviours come from. We can not change others but we can change ourselves. And as positive role models we can help the future generation.