Getting Out of Hand

Bullying. About 30 percent of today’s youth experience it at school. Young children are committing suicide because of this serious problem. It’s getting out of hand and it’s going to take a group effort to put a stop to it. Parents, teachers and the entire school system will have to work together to ease the problem.

According to safeyouth.org, children and teens whose parents provide little emotional support are at greater risk for engaging in bullying behavior. Studies have shown that children who were the targets of bullies at a young age are more likely to suffer from higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem than others as adults.

Research has also found that bullying is more likely to occur in schools where there isn’t much adult supervision during breaks and in situations where teachers and students don’t really acknowledge the fact that there’s bullying, according to safeyouth.org.

Teachers and parents need to get involved. When there is a school-wide commitment to end bullying, it can be reduced by up to 50%. Adults need to be doing more. Parents should talk to their children and teachers should be proactive. One approach that has proven to be effective is raising awareness about bullying, increasing teacher and parent involvement, forming rules, and providing support and protection for all students.

The only way any method can work is if everyone is involved. All faculty and staff of the school, as well as everyone in the homes of the children have to be involved to see results. Parents, teachers, and students will all have to communicate with each other in order to cut down on this problem. It won’t change overnight, but if everyone works together, the situation can be improved.