Assignment 17 - Caty Beth Gooding

You're stupid. You're ugly.  

These are obvious examples of bullying.

"Don’t tell anyone I told you this but so and so picks their nose."

This is not so obvious, but spreading rumors is still bullying.

We all know that bullying is a major problem. If we all took a survey about how we felt about bullying, I would bet serious money that most, if not all, of us would say it is wrong.

The problem isn't in recognizing that bullying is wrong. The problem is in how we react to bullying.

Right now, there are few programs in place that are effective in bully prevention at Henry Clay. The Fayette County Public School system doesn’t even have a set program for bully prevention. The biggest thing in their arsenal is bully prevention week, and I'm sure you all can tell me exactly how effective that was.

The thing is, at least in high school, the biggest way of preventing bullying in this moment , is to talk about it: teachers inform students why it's wrong, what can happen to those who are bullied, and what sort of actions will be taken against the bully. It's the same spiel every year: "Don’t do it. People get hurt. You wouldn't want someone to treat you that way. DON’T DO IT"

But we need to do more than just talk about it.

How many times do teachers talk and talk without any of us listening? Or maybe we do listen, but the information goes in one ear and out the other?

I don’t know about all of you, but I know I learn better when I'm involved.

If we could create a program that encourages students to become involved in the bully prevention process, we could get more students to realize the effects their actions have on other students. We could ensure that students are listening and paying attention, not just sitting there waiting for someone to stop talking.

We could implement an anti-bullying pledge. Each student could sign a pledge, if they chose, to show that they will not stoop to bullying, and when they see someone being bullied, they will do something about it, that they won't just ignore the situation and walk away.

We could offer a raffle -- like the devil dollars-- to students who make the pledge. Or we could have a program available where a teacher or student could nominate someone who stood up to a bully, for themselves or another person, or who went to the proper authority when they saw a situation arising. Their names would be recognized school-wide and they could be put into a drawing for a prize.

But even if Henry Clay put this policy in place, there are always going to be victims. On ascd.org, it states that only about 36% of victims actually report incidents of being bullied. Maybe it's because the victim feels like their bully will find out and bully them even more. But maybe not. According to Dan Olweus, a bullying researcher, victims generally see themselves as "failures, and feel stupid, ashamed, and unattractive." If we don’t have a no judgment policy, these victims will keep feeling like failures, and keep feeling stupid and ashamed.

The problem of bullying is not going to be solved overnight. It won't be easy to do, and we can't be rid of it altogether. But bullying can be greatly reduced if, as the Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez said, "everybody works together."

Talking is the first step to preventing bullying, but it shouldn’t be the only step.