To This Day

[iironiic]

I certainly can relate to this as well. It's sad that there are always going to be people who judge you based on how you appear, and never make any attempt to look deeper than your appearance. Unfortunately, life is unfair and will always be full of horrible people.

[ohsosilly]

Wow. This video hit me extremely hard. Thank you for posting this. I endured my fair share of bullying in school, so this hit me hard from that end, certainly. But... it hit me even harder as someone who's studying to be a teacher.

In my experience, it seemed like bullying in school is something that teachers had a tough time dealing with. A lot of the time, bullying stayed under the teachers' radar or they had to walk a sort-of tightrope between the bullies and the bullied in order to try to balance out the classroom. It rarely worked. Out of the hundreds of times that I dealt with bullying first-hand, there was only one time that a teacher cornered a student, told her off and told her to stay away from me. I'll never forget how much that meant to me.

My role as a teacher in preventing bullying could be huge. I want to be someone who makes sure that kids do not grow up this way. I've been there. I'm just not sure where to start, or what exactly my role would be. It's one thing to stick up for a peer, but once you become a teacher, your role undoubtedly changes.

I'm really really curious about what people think about the role of teachers in bullying prevention. Has anyone else ever been in a position of authority and been able to combat bullying? What did you do? In school, did a teacher ever stick up for you, or was there a time that you needed a teacher's help and it never came?

[dAnceguy117]

Originally Posted by ohsosilly

I'm just not sure where to start, or what exactly my role would be.

I feel like dealing with kids on a case-by-case basis would be effective. I remember that, as a child, I tuned out whenever the teacher scolded the entire class at once. If a teacher specifically called me out, though, you better believe I took things to heart.

Originally Posted by ohsosilly

It's one thing to stick up for a peer, but once you become a teacher, your role undoubtedly changes.

True. When defending a peer against another peer, anything goes. In contrast, I think a teacher should basically take the role of "moderator." Unfortunately, I witnessed a couple instances where someone being picked on lost his cool, and he was the only one who got in trouble for those incidents. A good moderator would prevent any escalation before an outburst occurred.

Originally Posted by ohsosilly

I'm really really curious about what people think about the role of teachers in bullying prevention. Has anyone else ever been in a position of authority and been able to combat bullying? What did you do?

Not me, sorry. I too would like to hear someone chime in with some personal experiences.