Bullying and Teasing, It's Damaging to Our Children

A school can only do so much when the student may be going home to a family that does not support the school's rules or goals for each child.

The family is a critical component to any child’s life. When it comes to education, no greater statistic stands truer today than the achievement gap between students whose parents are involved in their education process and those who do not have that support. Personal responsibility, safety and education are key elements to bringing up the next generation.

After 10 years of experience leading a volunteer program in my children’s elementary and middle schools, I launched Schools And Families Engaged (the S.A.F.E. TEAM on Campus) in 2008 to meet the needs of schools and families. Many of the school's families do not know where to begin in school. Many parents today never had an example of their parents supporting the school let alone they may not have enjoyed their personal schooling experience. Why would they have a desire to serve? You only know what you have experienced.

Make time to check out our site www.thesafeteam.com . On the About SAFE page, click on the 40 Developmental Assets link. This will tie in all the benefits of families and communities supporting their students both in school and out of school.

In response to the comment "Parents and Families are the key", I agree with that statement. I also took the time to check out the site www.thesafeteam.com.
But this article is specifically regarding the bullying aspect & I agree that school personel are in denial & tend to brush the seriousness of bullying off. Even with all the attention that this issue has been given, the general consensus tends to be "that would never happen in our school" or "Oh little so & so would never do that"
This article "Bullying & Teasing, It's damaging our children " hit it right on the mark.
My son has had to deal with bullying since kindergarten (he is now in grade 4)& we have been active in our sons school keeping in close touch with his teachers as well as the principle. Unfortunately tho right from day 1 no matter how many times these incidences were brought to the attention of school personel they were always "brushed off".
We have a happy 2 parent home where only my husband works (M-F).
Up until about 2yrs ago when our son started having panic attacks & increased anxiety he seemed to be coping @ school with regards to the bullying. We recieved help from our family doctor, who informed us that anxiety & panic attacks are becoming common in school aged children even as early as kindergarten. Not only from bullying but also from the increased pressures of the school curriculum. We hired a private counsellor to help our son learn coping skills. This helped some but not enough when there is constant bullying going on day in & day out.
Luckily our son talks to us, when he came to us and told us he shouldn't be here anymore, that he couldn't take anymore & he was worthless he wanted to end it (@ 8yrs old) It broke my heart. Even with all the effort & constant support we give our son these bullies could still get to him & wear him down.
The good thing to come out of that, when we immediately informed his principle & teacher of the situation this time we finally got thru to them & they now take it seriously & have been taking the appropriate steps in dealing with these situations at school.
On a side note tho bullying does not only happen at or in school, it happens on the bus in our neighborhoods in our communities & it is the responsibility of the adults to teach our children that bullying is unacceptable & there are consequenses to their actions. I have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with with the parents of 3 different children where when informed that their child was bullying another were in complete denial & their idea of discussing this situation rationally was "having it out in my front yard" obviously i informed them that was not acceptable! This just goes to show our children are a product of their enviornment.
This sort of thing happens in all neighborhoods, not just the not so well off neighborhoods! We happen to live in a well off neighborhood & it still happens here. Our son is not the only victim of these bullies.
The damage has been done to our son which is something he probably will never forget, but we are trying to help him get past it so he can move on to a bigger & brighter future.