What to do about “bullies”
March 10, 2011
An increasing concern in today’s society is the widespread occurrences of bullying within our schools; which has now seem to have extended into our kids social network with the rise of cyber bullying.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in Channel 4 News’ Bullying Prevention Project where I sat among a panel of experts retrieving phone calls and answering questions about Bullying in our schools. The majority of the calls were from concerned parents whose children have been bullied and their lives flipped upside as a result. These parents asked the age-old question, “what can I do?” And while several voices were heard that day one collective message soon became apparent which was that many of our schools are not intervening as they should.
From my clinical standpoint, the increase in bullying seems to be related to the growing shift that has been occurring among our student population for the past few years. It appears the focus is no longer on academics but who you can squash to get ahead and make a reputation for yourself. So if you ask me the solution should not entirely rest upon our school systems but needs to include several other systems working together to combat this problem or we may just lose the fight against bullying.
Kim Leiker LMHC
for appointments, call:
204-5552 x 424
