...Hello Everyone, I am sad to report that we have recently discovered bullying taking place within our classroom. To my knowledge, there has been no direct forms of bullying, where someone was physically, verbally, or mentally trying to harm another student. But that does not make this issue any less severe. Indirect Bullying is also a very harmful act where some bullies somebody else, usually without direct contact. They can spread rumors about somebody, write mean things about somebody, or tell other people to do mean things to a person. Often with indirect bullying, the victim knows that somebody is being mean to them, but they do not know who.
The issue we have had centered around a group of students alienating another student. It started with a leader telling their friends not to play with, eat with, or talk to a particular student. Whether it began as a game or not, I'm not sure, but it quickly turned into a form of indirect bullying. The victim was left feeling very sad, very unhappy, and very anxious around the rest of the class. No child should have to feel uncomfortable at school!!
To address this very serious matter, I taught a long lesson about bullying today. We watched a BrainPop Jr. video titled "Bullying" (you can go to www.brainpopjr.com to check it out if you wish), then discussed some of the events shown in the video. I also led the class through some role-playing activities where we identified some of the major players involved with bullying:
*The Victim (the person being Bullied)
*The Bully (the person/people harming others)
*The Friends (the people that come to the aide of the victim)
*The "Fake" Friends (the bystanders that allow the bullying to happen)
After role-playing a few common incidents that could occur in the classroom or at school, and discussing ways to handle a situation with a bully, I pulled the instigator of our issue aside (not in the presence of other students) to discuss the situation with them and make sure that it would not continue.
The motto that I left the class with was "Be Safe, Be Happy". It is my feeling that every student that comes to school has the right to be safe, and be happy. If someone makes you feel like you are not safe or not happy, then you are probably being bullied. If you do something that makes somebody hurt or sad, then you might be bullying them. We should all make good choices so that everyone can "be safe, and be happy".
I am hopeful that we can put this situation behind us, our class is made up of some pretty wonderful and respectful children. I would like to believe that this was an unfortunate incident where some kids made a bad decision, but I also made it quite clear that any future incidents involving bullying will result in an immediate meeting with the Bully's parents, the Principal, and myself. I also let everyone in class know that if they are found bullying another student they will not be granted Recess Privileges for the remainder of the school year.
How You Can Help:
Please sit down with your children and discuss your Family Values with your child. Address Bullying in a calm and respectful manner, but be firm with your expectations for conduct with your child, and what consequences they can expect at home if they are ever found harming another student at school. As unfortunate as this experience has been for one student in our class, the sad truth is it could have been any of them. It very easily could have been your child scared to go to school, no longer feeling "safe and happy". I know that none of us want that, so please take a little time out to discuss this matter with your child, so that we can all do our part to ensure that bullying does not continue with our kids, in our class, or at our school.
Thank you for your attention and action with this unfortunate problem.
-Mr. Linnet
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