Monday, March 9, 2015

Bullying

#SOL15



I'll make this post nice and short since it's late and I'm exhausted. Tonight I took part 1 of the DASA course. For those of you not familiar with DASA, it stands for Dignity for All Students Act. It encompasses everything from bullying to any type of discrimination to cyber bullying. You get the idea. 

Tonight I watched some of the most heartbreaking videos. Tonight I read some awful statistics. Of course I am bothered by bullying, but tonight I actually FELT bullying. These poor children who have to endure this on a daily basis; I can't even comprehend it. I was bullied a time or two or three when I was in school. I know it's much worse now with all the technology we have and all the social media we have such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. People can be very, very cruel.

I'm not going to lie when I say that as a parent, it gave me a little bit of anxiety. I never, ever want my daughter to be on the receiving end of bullying. I am also going to do everything in my power to make sure she is never the bully. Kids aren't perfect. I get that. Adults aren't perfect either. I think back on many instances of when I was in high school and other classmates were picked on over and over again. Flash forward to today, and some of those people are so wonderful and I'm happy to call them my friends. I wish other people had taken the time to stop their antics and put themselves in someone else's shoes. Heartbreaking. I'm rambling now because I'm really not sure what to say about the subject. It's such heavy material.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox for the night. My last words are just, be kind. Try and reach out to someone you think may need a hand today. You never know how much you might brighten a person's day just by saying hello. 

5 comments:

  1. "Be Kind." It's perhaps one of the most important "rules" we should try to live. Technology makes bullying so very easy by making it secret. The lack of accountability makes bullying too darn easy. Thanks for the reminder.

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  2. "Be Kind." It's perhaps one of the most important "rules" we should try to live. Technology makes bullying so very easy by making it secret. The lack of accountability makes bullying too darn easy. Thanks for the reminder.

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    1. Lori, this is so true. "Be kind" sounds so simple, but it really lends such huge results. Thanks for reading!

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  3. I will never accept the "kids will be kids" line. I will not accept that we learn at the school of "hard knocks." Sadly, I've seen bullying in all aspects of life. Teachers (and administrators) bully teachers (and administrators), sometimes. Siblings bully siblings, sometimes. Sometimes, parents bully their kids. It's never OK to bully and the results are always heartbreaking.

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    1. Anita, it does happen way more than we know. I am done with the "kids will be kids" line because they do have to learn somewhere that it is not acceptable. It needs to stop. I am still shocked today about all the stats I viewed yesterday. I am so happy our district has programs such as PBIS. It is key to educating students as well as teachers and parents. Thanks for reading!

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