Serious Question - Bullying?

Question

How can we make children understand that bullying is WRONG.

Bullying starts in school and carries on through adulthood. Children are mainly told it is wrong when they are in highschool, then its mainly too late.

Should children in lower years of education be told firmly it is wrong, and if so, how should it be done?

I myself have been bullied alot, and so have many people.
I for one want it stopped and i know i am not the only one.

In the schools i went to, bullying was never spoke about. In the 5 years i was in my senior school we had 3 people kill themselves due to something that could have been prevented.

Answer 1

zero tolerance, which people are too afraid of. we need to educate children from an early age and not be afraid of enforcing it.

Too much namby pampy stuff now, no winners or losers at sports day, no detentions, no shouting, no punishments, no wonder our country has so many problems. How did we survive when we were kids? we threw stones at each other, cycled fast down hills with no brakes, ran round with our coats on our heads like capes. climbed trees, jumped in rivers off ropes we tied to branches, camped outside, hit our mates with sticks, kicked boys in the goolies after they lifted our skirts, and got a huge smack or a week of detention for doing something really bad, usually a smack with each syllable of shouting from your parents, and we all grew up fine, respecting our elders with a little bit of fear for good measure.

Now you can't even put suntan lotion on a kid unless your it's mother. Kids need to learn to win and lose, hurt and heal, respect and admire and how to behave, and until we stop our liberal bleeding hearts. and cut down on the bullies being misunderstood and needing reward and praise and hand out punishment so they learn it is WRONG, as well as reward for good behaviour, we won't get anywhere.

Answer 2

The bad news bullying isn't going to stop anytime soon, locally or nationally. Not just in school, but in the workplace and in how we run our lives, we are being forever bullied. You need to figure out how to deal with it yourself.

For children, I recommend the book 'Ender's Game' which deals with a boy who is bullied. It is set in the near future when it is possible to monitor everything that happens to someone.

For adults, I recommend assertiveness training which can usually be found in the local Adult Education Centre courses, although not all courses are good so if you don't 'click' with the first one have a top-up somewhere else a couple years after. It is an ongoing thing.

Lateral thinking and a good education are your best allies in avoiding bullying. Bullying at school can be avoided by not going to school and instead educating at home, for instance. Bullying in the workplace can be more subtle: try to figure out the underlying motive, but be prepared to move.

Answer 3

I'm from Norway, and our gouvernment has made a program to stop bullying in school.
I think parts of the plan is to inform children about what it can do to people already the first years of school, to teach them that it's important to help children who are being bullied, and make the student councils have bullying on the agenda. Pretty much make it a subject all year through.

Answer 4

I totally agree! I am the parent of one of those bullies! I have tried many different approaches to stop this behaviour in my son! He has improved, but still has a problem occasionally. He has had one occasion, where he was the victim, and not the offender. I was upset one the one hand, but glad on the other hand, because he now knew how it felt, and kind of had it coming! There is a no tolerance policy at the school where we live. It has deterred alot of kids from bullying, since they now know they can be arrested for assault! For those of you who have been the victims of these kids, please know that they don't all come from families who don't care, or don't take the time to teach our kids right from wrong. I think most of the time, it stems from their own insecurities about not being as smart as the next kid, or as cute or whatever! It's something that takes alot of time, effort, and understanding to correct, and we are working on it!

Answer 5

the biggest problem to finding a solution to bullying is, most of the time the bully doesnt actually know its bullying, its usually percieved as a joke to the bully, children often dont understand the effects on the victim and therefore continue until it escalates to the next level, another part of the problem is the parents,
someone i know recently confronted the parent of a bully and was then subjected to a tirade of abuse from the parent, what chance does their children have if the parents are ignorant to the cause,
i dont actually see any real way of solving it, as schools, work places and quite often the police and authorities deny any such behaviour problems present,
maybe we need to bring back some kind of corparal punishments instead of these silly anti social behaviour orders which achieve the best part of nothing.

Answer 6

It has to be drummed into the kids heads as early as kindergarden by BOTH teachers AND parents. I heard stories from my sister's boy about fistfights going on in the playground during recess and the teachers were just sitting there ignoring it. This was about grade 4 or 5. Calls to the principle about threats made to her own child were brushed off. This was at the Valley Elementary school in Sybertsville PA. The teachers there were a complete waste. This was 10 years ago and I hope things have changed!

Answer 7

yes I believe it should be taught at home. but,when our children are out of our site and in among other children what will they do. peer pressure is a big problem as well. so I think it should also be taught at the schools. it would sure relieve me if I knew that the school was on our side and not playing the neutral game.
my daughter is only 3 but even at the playground there are older children that are bullying her. what 's going to happen when she goes to school ? it's a balancing act for us parents, to teach our children what not to do & how to stand up for themselves in a proper way.

Answer 8

I know this family of whom their boy is getting bullied by a girl in school. They wont do anything as the girl comes from a single parent family (???) I don't know the difference is she should be taught manners. The school should you made to sort this out. In the end the Police were involved as she turned really really nasty. Guess what? the school are now helping.... go figure

Answer 9

Thing is bullying doesn't just happen at school, happens in the work place at home etc.
Bullying in any form should carry severe consequence's not just a slap on the wrists

Answer 10

i hate bullies... i really really hate them. i was bullied as a kid and gave me such a traumatic experience.

yes, children who have already started bullying other children should be taught that it is wrong. but bullying can sometimes be caused by an unstable household environment. always provide the child with love and care, but not to the point of spoiling him. proper upbrining is the best prevention.