“The most effective strategy to eliminate bullying is to create a sense of community in our schools whereby each member believes that it is his or her responsibility to protect and respect every other member. It is paramount to foster an atmosphere of intolerance for bullying among children armed with practical tools for dealing with it, and strengthened by an environment of open communication and proactive response from parents and educators.”
- Joe Wojcik
Bullying Is An Epidemic
It Exists In Every School
What Are You Doing About It In Yours?
While we would all like to think of our schools as bully-free zones, the reality is that they aren’t. A report released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health “A Guide to Bullying Prevention” tells us that:
- Over 80% of adolescents report being bullied during the school year.
- 71% of the students feel that the teachers and other adults in the classroom ignore bullying incidents.
Bullying is a very real problem. We all have seen what can happen when bullying escalates, or when students reach the bullying tipping point.
What is often discounted is the overall impact of bullying. The child being bullied suffers. But so do the on-lookers, those children exposed to what is going on and who, even when they laugh, feel impotent to do anything about it. They often fear that they will be next. And the bully is suffering, also; for a child to bully, something is terribly wrong in their life. Thus, bullying impacts the morale of the entire classroom and school community.
- Bullying causes anxiety in the child being bullied and in the children witnessing the process
- It makes children not want to go to school
- It impacts academic performance, self-esteem and quality of life
- Bullying impacts the tenor of the entire school
- A child bullied during the developmental years can carry the residual effects into adulthood
How can educators effectively deal with bullying? How can they empower their students to deal with it? What should parents do? What can students do? And how can we eradicate bullying from our schools? These questions and more are addressed through the Say NO to Bullying Today presentations and performances.
