Wednesday, February 9, 2011
class 2-8 bullied
Today I watched the movie Bullied, and as a future teacher I will in no case stand by and watch a child be bullied. I cannot believe what Jamie went through and how the school administrators did NOTHING to help him. Every child deserves to feel safe at school and to enjoy the time they spend there. There is no reason for a child to feel scared at school. I know I will make a point to point out that I will tolerate NO name calling or bullying in my classroom, and I will encourage my students to speak out against bullying and report any sightings to a teacher they trust. I am glad Jamie won his case, and hope that bullying can become a thing of the past.
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I have two things to think about, I agree with you in that we, as teachers, MUST help children feel safe. But what can we do? For instance, was the teacher who helped and allowed him to stay in her classroom during lunch helping create for him a safe environment?
ReplyDeleteI think Richard Lavoie puts it well when he gives the example of "If you scold student A for calling student B a name, then student A is not going to call student B a name...in front of you. But if you praise student A for doing something nice to student B, then it is much likelier that student A will be nice to student B elsewhere (i.e. the playground, the lunchroom, art class, etc.).
Do you agree with this?
I do agree, you bring up and excellent point. There is always the situation where telling a teacher makes the bullying worse. I do not thing that just a scolding to student A will do any good except let them know that you as one teacher out of the school will not stand for it. It must be an effort given out by all teachers in the building. And also one that is enforced and backed up by some sort of punishment that will personally have an effect on the child (not giving out a punishment that the child will pay no attention to (make the student stay in for recess but allow them to to another enjoyable task) but something that will actually make that student think about what they did, and involve the parents.)
ReplyDeleteI also watched the movie by Richard Lavoie about how pointing out that you like student B and he did something you admire is a great way to influence younger students. They are eager to earn the praise of adults and do not want to cross them. For older students I wonder if that sort of attention will bring on a new sense of 'teachers pet' type of teasing. Especially from those who tend to rebell and typically go against anything teachers say. Do you think this is likely or that it will work for all ages?