Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Attitudes towards School Bullying Needs to Change

Our country is filled with social issues.  Poverty, substance abuse, gang violence, domestic violence and health care are just some of the high profile issues that have been a daily part of our lives.  Domestic violence had been around for years prior to lawmakers making it a crime.  Violence between spouses and or partners was at one time considered part of the course of being a couple.  Believe it or not, if a husband raped his wife, it was not considered illegal.  Rape between couples is still a difficult task to prove in the courts.  But in the end, Domestic Violence is mostly accepted as a crime in a majority of the states.  But why is there such a problem with bullying being accepted as, "not acceptable?"

 People say, "Bullying has been around for such a long time, it is part of growing up" "Bullying is part of being a kid." and "Kids need to deal with it"

So in essence violence against children by other children is acceptable because, hey, it involves children.  But when a man commits violence against a woman [I use this because statistics show most violence in relationships is perpetrated by men]  is not acceptable.  Let's put things in perspective.  Children's frontal lobes are not developed, period.  They don't have the ability to rationalize why they are being bullied by others.  They don't think like adults. They are not apt to seek out help, or tell anyone for fear of embarrassment or retaliation.  Sure, victims in violent adult relationships also have issues seeking out help or confiding in friends or family but at least there are shelters, advocates and law enforcement agencies that seek to help those victims.  Who is helping the bullied child? Why is it so hard for schools, parents and other adults to come to terms that children should not have to endure bullying and that it is not a part of growing up.  School Bullying, whether physical or verbal is violence.  Harassment and stalking is against the law in most states. They are against the law for a reason and mainly because of  the emotional harm these  these acts can cause the victim as well as the probability of escalated violence   Injunctions are granted when adults harass other adults.  Why is it so hard to  legally stop children from bullying other children? Society needs to come to grips with changing attitudes towards bullying and come to the realization that it is a very real dangerous social issue that is going to be around for a long time.

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