I saw this amazing post tonight on Facebook under Mashable and it struck a cord for me once again. I have been trying for years to bring awareness and action to the fact that bullying and lack of support from schools has become the biggest issue facing today's kids.
I take calls and receive emails and messages on Facebook weekly from parents sharing their horrifying stories of their children being traumatized and victimized in school. The saddest part is 99% of the time the schools they attend lack in intervention. The parents are told not to worry or that things will be taken care of. They never are.
Parents have had to resort to hiring lawyers, homeschooling or moving to a new district all together to escape the torment. Parents teach their kids to stand up for themselves and when they do, they are hit with a suspension and told zero tolerance. Most of the time the child who finally strikes back has taken months, sometimes years, of torment and no one has helped them. It is their only way to make it stop. When will we wake up? When will we see what is happening?
Here is an article I wrote years ago. I have been trying to get the message out there with countless others, yet I do not feel we have moved ahead in any way.
http://www.examiner.com/article/bullying-can-cause-devastating-effects-and-trauma-for-kids
As I was looking through my stats this evening to see what information people were viewing most on our support blog, I noticed we had the most hits on one particular page. It is the SAMPLE BULLYING LETTER TO SUBMIT TO SCHOOL. We had a comment on this page as well that gripped me as I read the parent's powerful words. The reason is, it is not just the kids who are bullying our kids. Staff are can be just as involved and yet it seems to be something no one wants to talk about.
Our group met this month and we watched the movie Bully together. I had viewed it previously but this time it resonated more concern with me as those who surrounded me gasped and shared comments on how familiar this all was for them.
It seems many of us are shouting from the roof tops for a solution, for acknowledgement that this is a huge epidemic. Kids with special needs are even more susceptible to the damage this causes. The trauma that is a result of bullying, will have devastating effects for years to come. Many have resorted to taking their own lives to stop the pain. How can we ignore this any longer? How can we sit back and say "It is not in my community. It is not in my school."
Where is the professional help and guidance our schools need to help our kids cope and resolve issues that many times are more then they can stand? We care so much about test scores and funding for academics. How can kids learn when they do not feel safe in the building they have to report to everyday? Do we really think they can focus on facts when they are on high alert for survival.
I have so much more to share and I would love to see a real discussion begin. Those who have visited before and viewed these topics, please know you are not alone. We need to get attention to this situation so please share this link and share your stories and ideas in the comments below.
Thank you Matthew Bent for advocating for your son and millions of other children who need the schools to step up and do something to help. Enough is enough! Save our kids!
*****Update 04/22/2013
Check out the interview on the TODAY show. I am so glad to see this gaining national attention. We need to continue to send a message that this will not be tolerated and brushed under the rug anymore. We have lost too many young lives and this has devestated too many families.
http://www.advocate.com/youth/2013/04/15/watch-dad-stands-behind-bullied-son-facebook-gets-school-response
No comments:
Post a Comment