I came across this article today from a “friend” on Facebook who was venting about the hows’ and whys’ his children wouldn’t attend a public school what with all this bullying going on…
I challenge you to read this article and see if you can view it through two separate lenses.
First, look through the lens of a seasoned educator. Your day is filled with, “he touched me, she looked at me, they’re picking on me.” Your classroom is made up of students who come from a variety of homes, with a variety of personality’s and a HUGE variety of quirky behaviors. You learn very quickly that a nine year old’s version of what happened isn’t ALWAYS the most clear…and requires you to also become an investigator. You can already tell by September which students have a ton of friends to play with…and which need some direction from you. You add personality match maker to your already impressive plate of underpaid teacher, tutor, social worker, nurse, momma stand in, test giver, curriculum creator , and human. How easy would it be to dismiss a playground claim of bullying?
Now look through the lens of a parent who gets the call from school that your child hung himself in the bathroom. Is any excuse good enough? Is any attempt to rationalize what wasn’t communicated good enough?
As a momma and a loveR of our Lions…I don’t think so.
It’s a thin thin line between being completely whipped by the extreme amount of effort it takes to completely discern whether or not a student is being bullied. I know this. I know that your days are long and your lists of “one more thing” never gets any shorter. I know that the new “b” word is thrown around DAILY.
I also know the most important thing in my life is my children.
Maybe looking through the lens of the bullied, vs the bully, will help us to identify behaviors and help create an environment that doesn’t tolerate ANY incidents that could be perceived as bullying. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Bully BanN,
Amber
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