The Bully Epidemic

Children being bullied has become a huge problem in American society today. It occurs both in school, out of school, and even online. Children of all ages are exposed to it and there seems to be no escape. While I suspect that bullies have existed since the beginning of time, the media has just now caught on so the issue is finally receiving the attention it deserves. This issue needs to be addressed because it is unfair and irresponsible for an adult - whether that be a parent, teacher, or principal, to expect a child to enter into an environment in which they are constantly harassed and singled out on a daily basis. Not only are children forced to exist in these environments for most of the year but they are expected to be relaxed enough in the classroom to learn and thrive. Most people, let alone children are not capable of concentrating on anything else when they are in a defensive mode. Bullying needs to be addressed for the sake of the children on the receiving end as well as for the bullies themselves. Often bullies act the way they do because they have issues of their own and it is easier for them to take out aggression on someone else than to reflect on their own problems. If they are made to feel weak at home by a parent or older sibling then they show their strength at school or in their neighborhood by picking on their peers. As you can imagine, bullies can have a very distracting effect on classrooms making the teachers' jobs that much harder. If standards were set through public policy for the prevention of bullying in American schools, I believe that classrooms would be a much more effective learning environment raising test scores and self-esteem in students simultaniously. This policy could begin by inacting mandatory anti-bullying seminars for teachers, school counselors and principals. These seminars should cover how to identify a bully, how to stop one in their tracks, and how to prevent the situation alltogether. They should also be age-specific for elementary, middle, and high schools. With a government enforced anti-bullying policy in effect for all of America's school systems, classrooms will be a much safer and more effective environment for children academically and personally.