It's a problem that's been around since the beginning of time. I don't care what era or generation you come from, chances are you encountered a bully. It's almost like grade schools and high schools can't be complete without at least one. Can you recall the bully you encountered back in the day? I sure can. At the young age of 13, I had just moved to a new area, and started in a new middle school. It took only a few days before some random 14 year old punched me. And I mean he literally socked me right in the jaw, while I was minding my own business, standing in the gym after lunch. I never even saw it coming. So, how do we prevent such occurrences from taking place? Maybe with a few lectures and bullying articles while we're still very young. It certainly pays to teach our children early on.
Not long ago, my daughter came home from school with a bullying article in her hand. She said they were learning all about bullies in school. And the following day, a guest speaker was scheduled to come and speak with the second graders about bullying. I think this is great! No one ever gave me any bullying articles when I was a kid, nor did we have any guest speakers back then. What I learned about bullying came from my father. He told me there were a couple basic reasons bullies exist. One reason for their behavior concerns a lack of confidence, and another deals with intellect, or should I say lack there of? If you've ever seen a bully insulted, he/she generally resorts to violence as a rebuttal. This may be due to a lack of whit. Furthermore bullies are often made by other bullies. If a child is bullied at home by a parent or older sibling, he/she may often resort to bullying as well.
It generally takes more than a few simple bullying articles to get your point across to children and teens. This is why parents should always remember to speak with their kids about bullying and why it's wrong. Believe it or not, they listen to you more than they listen to bullying articles passed out by a school teacher. So much depends on the example you provide for them.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
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