The Bullying Stops Here

Bullying. Harassment. Schools are supposed to be safe zones for our children. The problem is, anyone with children should be able to tell you this isn't true. School can be one of the worst places for children.

Anti-bullying campaigns are very popular now. Posters and t-shirts are everywhere, claiming no tolerance for picking on people. Most of the time, it's the students wearing the shirts and posting the signs that are doing the harassing. If you're not the same color, or not the same size, or just not popular enough, you're considered fair game.

Sadly, school faculty isn't equipped to handle this. Teachers can do little more than talk to the students. Of course, those involved deny doing anything wrong, even in the face of evidence and witnesses. These kids know their parents aren't going to do anything about it.

My own sons have been bullied for years. One son has even had rocks thrown at him by other kids, simply for walking down the street. When I confronted the parents of the kids involved, the only concern the mother had was that her own son had cut his own hair. She didn't care at all about the fact her son had hit my son with rocks.

Another popular method of harassment is cyber bullying. With the predominance of social web sites, it's easier than ever to pick on someone without once having to look them in the eye. I've seen kids set up fake profiles and chat up kids to get them to confide secrets, only to take these secrets and spread them around the school. We've all seen on the news of the mother that created a fake profile to harass her own daughter's competition.

Where do our children learn how to treat others? Anyone that didn't say "Home", you really need to think again. Home is where it all starts. Consider how YOU treat other people. Do you mock people, bully people, push your way through lines and intimidate? Do you simply make fun of people in the privacy of your own home? Your children see all this. They learn how to do things by watching how YOU do things.

When we teach our children bad behavior, they follow the example. When we teach our children good behavior, they follow the example. If we can't learn to appreciate other people for who they are, how can we expect our children to do so?

Now, I'm sure some of you are asking yourselves how this pertains to you. After all, YOUR children are good and would NEVER pick on someone. Right? Guess again. We are not perfect. Our children are not perfect. Mistakes will happen. We need to teach our children right from wrong, and lead by example.

I know we've all heard of Columbine. Many schools around the country have had similar cases of students coming in with guns and causing havoc. What often gets overlooked is the fact that most of the students that do this have been bullied by classmates, and when they reach out for help nothing is done. Maybe the bully is the star athlete, or the rich kid, it doesn't matter. Nothing gets done. Finally these students can't take it any more and react in the only way they see left open to them.

Before anyone complains about this, let me state here: Not all students that have done this have been bullied. And not all star athletes or rich kids are bullies.

Bullying is a Hate Crime. It needs to be treated as such. Hate needs to be removed from our children, from our schools, from our lives. It begins, and it ends, at home. Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with YOU.