He was only about 9 year old at the time. The other boys
would chase him during recess, and granted, the boy wasn’t the fastest runner
being slightly chubby. He was quiet, and he couldn’t think of what to do when
the other boys didn’t understand the meaning of “stop” or “no”. They would
corner him up against the chain length fence, all the while calling him names,
mocking him. They’d grab his lunch pail from his cold hands, throw it on the
ground and stomp on it, smashing his sandwich, cookies, juice, and banana.
He would refuse to go to school, and his mom couldn’t figure
out why. She finally got some of the story out of him. There were mean boys at
school, who wouldn’t leave him alone, and he was terrified to go to school
anymore.
She talked to the principle, who thanked her for bringing
the issue to his attention, but his actions led to no change. He talked to the
boys, but not to their parents. He didn’t supervise the boys, and the bullying
continued. Would his mom have to quit her job just to go to school with her son
to make sure other students left him alone? Were they unable to provide a safe
learning environment for all students?
Before we begin, I will define bullying as- to cause another
person emotional, physical, or psychological harm by verbal, physical or sexual
abuse or harassment.
If the Brown vs. Board decision was made to give equal
educational opportunity for all students, then schools should be doing more
to protect students from bullying so that all students can have equal
educational opportunities. Bullying creates a
hostile environment for its victims that is hard to nearly impossible
for them to learn in, because they are always worried for their safety. Bully
victims are also victims of discrimination from other students, which is
imposing on their civil rights.
This boy from the story was my brother, and stories like his
are not uncommon. I would like to focus on bullying in general, but also
specifically aimed toward gays/lesbians and cognitively disabled (CD)
individuals.
Anyone who has ever been to school, whether it be public or
private, has experienced bullying, either aimed toward himself, or at his
peers. I honestly don’t think that bullying is anything that will ever go away.
It is a result of sin and corruption that lies inside of every human. However,
I do believe it should be considered a crime. My goal here is to make
people more aware of bullying in schools, to give a few examples of bullying,
and possible solutions to make it less common.
Recently I heard a story on NPR which inspired me to write
about bullying (unfortunately I could not find the transcript anywhere on their
website and I do not remember the names.) A mother told her son’s story. I
forget his age, but I believe he was a freshman in high school in
Massachusetts. He was a “mamma’s boy” and he had always been very loving and
sweet. However, when he began high school his mother noticed that he began
distancing himself from her, and he became unnecessarily rough with his little
siblings. He mentioned a few times that the kids at school called him a
“fag”.
One day he came home from school because he had gotten in a
fight with a girl who had been taunting him. The principal decided that the
students would either be suspended or they would have to sit together at lunch
for the rest of the year. He didn’t want to be suspended because he was always
a straight A student, and he never got in trouble, so he agreed to sit with
her. He came home and informed his mom what had happened. She was infuriated,
and she hadn’t realized how bad the bullying had become. She told him that she
would go talk to the principal. She was infuriated that the school had not even
called her. That night her son hung himself. This is one in hundreds of stories
of gay/lesbians being harassed to death by their peers.
Many CD clients I have worked with, or that my mother has
worked with, have dropped out of school or been afraid to go because of
bullying. One young boy was called retarded, and he was chased and pinned
against a fence. He couldn’t cry out for help or tell them no, because his disabilities
make it hard for him to communicate. Another man, when he was in high school,
he was mocked because of his high pitched voice, and his inability to socialize
“normally” due to his asparagus. He was a very smart boy, but he eventually
dropped out to avoid the mockery.
There are hundreds of other stories that have come to the
attention of the press that I could recall, but I won’t. Although not
exclusively, bullies usually go after people who are different, or vulnerable,
which is why many of the targets are people perceived to be gay, or those who
have disabilities.
Although almost all states have laws that force public
schools to prohibit bullying, it seems that they aren’t doing a very good job.
The
National
Center on Secondary Education and Transition found that 25% of
teachers do not think bullying is a big deal, and two-thirds of students feel
that adults do not help them deal with bullies. Often times, bullying is seen
as just a fact of life that kids, and some adults, deal with and people have to
learn to live and grow stronger from it. As far as I know, bullying itself
is not a crime, so too many students get away with it.
This is ridiculous. Bullying ruins people’s self-confidence
and feeds them the lie that they are pathetic and worthless. It drives people
to depression, aggression, suicide, etc. It gives bullies a false sense of
confidence and importance. It should be considered a crime because it infringes
on other people's right to life.
But what should be done? Here are a few suggestions.
In light that so many of the victims of bullying are
gay/lesbian or disabled, first, I suggest that all students be educated on
civil rights. Why do we learn so much in school about the civil rights
movement, but we only talk about Blacks and other ethnic minorities? All people
are created equal, regardless of their sexual orientation or the disabilities
they may have. Schools should be teaching students to be kind and
tolerant. It is scary if students are not learning these characteristics in
school, because they spend more of their childhood in school than in their
home.
In addition to educating students, I believe that the
consequences for bullying should be much more severe than simple suspension or
grounding. Bullying should be considered a crime, so the bully should be
prosecuted. Parents of both parties should be notified, and maybe both the
victim and the bully should receive counseling.
Finally, students who are being bullied should be made well
aware of their rights, and of help that they can receive. On this note,
students who are being bullied should actually have help
readily available for them in the form of a school counselor and some kind of
security to keep the bully away from his victim. Students and teachers who
witness or suspect bullying should be strongly encouraged to report it, even if
anonymously.
Bullying has always been around but it has come more into
the spotlight in the past decade with the many stories published by the press
about the consequences bullying has on lives. In order for all students to
receive equal education, all students must be safe in school. Hostilities that
cause emotional, psychological or physical harm will make it harder for
students experiencing this to learn. So, in the spirit of Brown Vs Board,
states and schools need to make schools safe from bullying, through prevention
programs and stricter consequences.
