Bullying: Let It Not Be Once Named Among You
I recently talked to a teacher from another school about a sad situation that had happened with some of her students. Evidently, one of the “cool” girls wrote a nasty comment to one of the not-so-cool girls, and in the process, really hurt the girl’s feelings. The offense was exacerbated by an afterschool ridicule session on school property, in which the offending girl and her friends taunted their target.
There are four issues to be considered in this situation.
Are events related to but not directly under our supervision within our realm of authority?
Technically, the answer is “no” because no teachers or administrators were there to witness either event, although one happened in the classroom on an undetectable level, and the other was after school had been dismissed.
But, I feel that it is within our realm of authority because it was a school-related/sponsored event and thus directly related to school, so my answer would be a definite, “YES!”
It’s not okay.
For anyone to be treated like this is not acceptable, and that is one of the reasons children are in our care in a Christian setting: because their parents want them to excel not only academically, but socially and spiritually as well.
In addition, parents desire for their children to be in a safe setting and to be protected, at least for a few years, from the nastiness and meanness of the rest of the world.
Yes, that is just life and people are mean and children need to learn to deal with it. But it is unfortunate, and as much as possible, these situations should be dealt with gently. The poor girl needs to be comforted and told that being treated like that hurts, and that it was not acceptable for other students to treat her like that.
Almost every adult I know can remember some sad situation from their younger years where he or she was treated unfairly, and to be honest, it is painful. The scars are there.
The bullies need to be reprimanded.
There are usually so many excuses that could be made for behavior like this: bad home situations, parents in the hospital, a recent death in the family, bullying from older brothers, etc. That does NOT give a child permission to be cruel to other students. Granted, that student needs a wise adult to talk to, one who could help them sort out all that he or she is dealing with in a proper and healthy way. But, he or she also needs to understand that it is not acceptable or permissible, especially in a Christian school setting, to treat another person in a cruel or demeaning manner. Hopefully some self-control and control of the tongue could be learned as well.
The conversation about bullying should include all students.
It is prudent and wise for us to talk about these types of things with all of our students in general, so that they know from the beginning that this type of behavior will not be tolerated by you, the teacher.
Teachers can only directly rule in their immediate domain: their classrooms. But, if the teacher cares enough and has a good rapport with the students, the teacher can have influence outside of the classroom as well.
Our being vocal about these types of actions will hopefully make our students think before acting in this way. We should keep a running dialogue of appreciation and respect for other individuals because they are our classmates, and hopefully, will someday be part of our churches, and thus brothers and sisters in Christ.
Photo by Road Ahead on Unsplash
