Sunday, November 14, 2010
Schools Warned: Better Battle Bullying
I looked at several videos regarding bullying in general and found the statistics on this one pretty amazing. One said that 50% of kids said they had bullied someone else. I'm trying to figure out what has caused this massive increase in bullying behavior. The internet is certainly a culprit for bullying behavior but the internet is not responsible for the behavior inside the school and the lack of values and respect that these kids seem to have. I think the biggest cause for bullying behavior is a lack of respect for self and others. I don't understand what is causing this. I have two retail stores and employ mainly college-age students as retail clerks. The way they behave is entirely different from the same age group ten years ago. Ten years ago there was a general respect for authority and the job. Today, they have a "what can you do for me?" attitude. It's like I should feel lucky as their employer to have them.
My son has a classmate that has been a problem every since we've known him. At the age of four we were at a birthday party and I had to go get his mother to get him because he was holding a girl down yelling "bitch, bitch, bitch" while he was pointing his finger at her. His mother didn't speak to me for weeks and never did acknowledge that is what he was saying even though there were fifteen adults standing around. This same kid, now almost five years later, was sent to the principals office last week for cussing and causing problems on the playground. My reaction to bullying is to get the school systems to do more and be more proactive but in a situation like this boy, it is very much a parenting issue. His parents are bullies. They are competitive, selfish and will walk over anyone to get something their way. How does the education system teach this kid any different? It's a very sad situation. We request every year not to be in his class and the school respects that but I wish something else could be done.
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I agree that the school needs to hold up their responsibility to enforce his violation of the rules. Unfortunately, it sounds like his parents are the bigger contributors to this problem. The school can only do so much if he is allowed to do what he pleases at home. I assume it will only get worse as he starts using the internet because it doesn't sound like his parents will monitor his behavior.
ReplyDeleteAs I was watching the video, I was surprised by how many girls were in the physical fighting scenes. To me, when I hear the word bullying, I think of boys bullying other boys. Not girls punching other girls. Don't get me wrong, I know girls are involved with bullying. I guess I just thought they resorted to more nonphysical acts such as starting rumors and name calling. Thanks for sharing such an eye-opening video.
ReplyDeleteI'm really not surprised to see the statistics associated with bullying and physical confrontations; it probably depends on which schools one surveys and whether they're representative of the norm. Also, middle- and high-schools are the places in time that kids are figuring out right from wrong and who they are. While I don't condone or excuse this behavior, I really don't find it all that surprising.
ReplyDeleteIf you look closely you will see that the majority of the videos were taken with cell phone cameras. Once captured they are distributing via youtube, email, and through other websites. This is sensationalizing bullying. There always was and always will be bullying but dare I say there should be a certain element of censorship? The behavior of these kids should not be allowed to corrupt others into doing the same thing, it's like JackAss for teens....
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very good video. I liked the teacher at the end who said "You don't have to be friends with everyone but you do have to respect them". I thought that was a very good statement. The kids now days don't show the respect that should be shown. I agree with the other post about it falling back on the parents. Children are a reflection of their parents!
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head when you say that kids today have a lack of respect. Unfortunately I think this is a due to a lack of parenting. These kids are left to their own vices and allowed to do as they wish with no supervision and no respect for anyone or anything including other peoples property.
ReplyDeleteThis summer there were some neighborhood kids causing problems and they police picked them up in the middle of the night, took them home, and they came back the next day and started causing the same problems. When confronted the second time, the gave the big middle finger to the person confronting them.