We all know that bullying is a very serious issue and that schools should do everything they can to prevent it from happening, but so much goes on at a school and not everyone notices when bullying is taking place. Bullying has also taken on many different forms, from cyber bullying to covert (making up rumors) so not everyone is aware that it is happening in their school. One of the biggest obstacles to preventing bullying is that not everyone reports it when it's being done to someone else or even themselves.
According to this article, http://www.communityunitycoalition.org/blog/why_dont_students_report_being_bullied/, a lot of bullied students feel like their school ignores the issue and doesn't follow through with a plan. I know my school always talked about how to stand up to a bully and threaten to punish those who are guilty of it with something like detention, but sometimes that only makes the situation worse. It doesn't really solve anything and the victim can still be left feeling very unsafe.
Plus bullies tend to pick on easy targets, such as those with little friends or low self-esteem. Being a victim of bullying makes one feel very ashamed and powerless. They are less likely to seek for help and sometimes even feel like they deserve to be bullied. The other reason is due to the fear of being labeled as a "rat" by their peers. While I do think that bullying is a terrible thing and that no one should ever experience it, with so many different circumstances, bullying can be very hard problem to solve and prevent.
I agree with you that bullying is a very hard topic to discuss with students especially when some are even unsure of what could be considered bullying. People do not realize that something as simple as starting/spreading a rumor could be considered bullying. When people are not even aware that something is bullying it is even harder to control it and help people who are being bullied.
ReplyDeleteAnother problem is that some students feel as if they cannot tell someone about their experience without the risk of being bullied more.The kids who are doing the bullying may see this as being a "snitch" and therefore punish that child even more. There are so many ways for kids to bully nowadays that we need to figure better ways to understand what kids are going through and try to fix these problems.