Young children often mislabel situations as bullying. Just the other day a student told me that another child was bullying her. When I asked her what happened, she said, "He won't play with me." I have heard adults say that the kids were just playing around when one child wrestles the other to the ground. So, what is bullying? According to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), "bullying occurs when a person is exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of one or more person."
Bullying happens more often than we think. NASP said that 30% of children reported being involved in bullying as neither the bully, victim, or both. Children bully for various reasons. Some children may bully to feel cool or popular, to be in control, or even to feel excepted. Others are bullies because someone else is bullying them. Whatever the reason children who are being bullied should not be made to feel as if they are doing something wrong. In the Everybody Hates Chris Video, the principal gave power to the bully. Even having the bully and the victim in the same room to explain the situation is empowering to the bully. Chris was made to feel like it was his fault he was being bullied. The principal even asked Chris why he thought he was being bullied. The principal decides to make Chris and the bully go on a field trip together as "buddies!"
What do you think the principal in this situation should do? What kinds of measures can parents, students, and school personnel put in place to prevent bullying? If you were being bullied, what would you except the adults around you to do to help you?
If you would like more information on bullying you can visit the National Association of School Psychologists website at www.nasponline.org and look under resources. There is also a website for a bullying prevention is www.olweus.org which is a program aimed at reducing and preventing bullying. This program has been implemented in more than a dozen countries around the world.
