Ways To Stop Bullying
Bullying has been around for years, people have constantly fought against it and many schools even have a zero bullying tolerance yet somehow kids continue to get bullied.These are some ways I believe will help wit stopping bullies, they may have already been said by others but I will say it again.
Step 1, Get Better Teachers. In many of my personal bullying problems I have dealt with many teachers either not caring or simply telling the bully to stop. For one just nonchalantly telling them to stop without putting some authority behind it isn't going to work, you might as well just tell them to continue because that is about as much as it is going to do. And there have been many teachers I have witnessed not do a single thing when a complaint about a bully arises, bullying is a serious matter stop talking to the gym teacher for a second and do your job.
Step 2, Enforce A Stricter Policy. I have been in a school where there was a zero bullying tolerance policy and let me tell you it did nothing when it was not enforced by the school and by its creators. When bullying has become such a problem and you go to the effort of creating a policy why stop at enforcing said policy? Many schools should do this. Strike one you get a referral and a detention, step two you get suspended for two weeks and strike three you get expelled. That is the nicest way I can think of going about this. Instead of creating something that is supposed to help and not enforcing it have people who actually care. Maybe then when they get expelled they will understand that bullying is not allowed at all.
Step 3, Parents Scold Your Kids. I do not have any children of my own but I have witnessed countless kids who have back talked to their parents, cussed at an authority figure and smeared junk all over the meaning of respect. When I was a child I was whipped just for talking back to my teacher. Letting your children go about and do whatever they want is the exact opposite of what you need to do. Set boundaries for your kids, enforce your authority as a parent and show them they cannot act like little heathens day in and day out. Punish them, make them understand that you are their parent and that they need to respect not only you but others as well. That means no flipping off the old lady across the street.
Step 4, Create A Buddy System. This will somewhat resemble a body guard, since many bullies won't bully if someone with authority is around this will work. If a child is being bullied by someone have a teacher, perhaps another student or someone keep an eye on them. If that person who is being bullied has a buddy around not only will they feel a little safer but if they are being bullied the buddy will be able to step in. If it is another kid as the buddy they will take their friend someplace safe and if it is a teacher they will exact a punishment on the spot.
Step 5, Kids Toughen Up. This one is for some of those parents out there who believe their kids just need to man up and sometimes that is correct, sometimes they just need to toughen up a little. I have a cousin who constantly cries and complains about being bullied and what not, yes bullying is a bad thing but if no one will help the best thing you can do is toughen up. Many bullies will prey on those who act weaker, or at least more emotionally bothered. If the kid can toughen up then they should be able to simply ignore the bully, many of the times in my experience when a attempted bully realized I was not effected by their taunts they left me alone.
Step 6, Teach Your Kids To Stand Up. Have you ever seen those videos of a bully getting what he deserved? That is what many kids need to be taught, they need to be taught how to stand up for themselves. Many bullies will pick on a victim knowing that they cannot fight back or don't want to, however in many of those videos the victim has had enough and laid the smack down upon the victim. In many schools however even simply standing up for yourself could get you in trouble and sometimes even more then the bully gets in. If a kid is standing up to a bully he should not get punished for it, a few schools I have been into have never done anything to stop a bully instead deciding to portrait me as the bad guy when I fought back.
Conclusion: Bullying will most likely be around forever and that is not my picture for a great world but one of the things we can do is have people stand up to bullies. If you see a kid getting picked on step in and help out, inform the teacher of who it is that is bullying and help. Many of the steps on this list might never see the light of day but standing up to bullies is the only way they will learn to stop.
