Preventative Actions Against Bullying

The Time Is Now To Take Action

Bullying has only became a hot new topic within the last few years. Maybe no one wanted to face the facts that there was a real issue at hand or maybe some felt that it was part of growing up. In any case, it has been revealed that many deaths of young children and other long term psychological and emotional effects on children are due to bullying. We can not look back and think about what we could've, should've, and would've done. Now, is the time that matters. What we do now—to prevent this abuse from continuing to happen—is the most important thing that matters.

Anti-Bullying

I found this great blog on anti-bullying called Stop Bullies Blog founded by J. Richard Knapp. He is the CEO of Stop Bullies. I must say that I've come across many blogs but this one really caught my eye based on how genuinely personal it seems to be. The bait for me was the post called Sharing Knowledge—with this one read I was hooked. It wasn't about straight forward knowledge or dictated information. It was just a plea. A plea for those who felt that the information on the page was important to just share it. That's it—a post about sharing. Share for those who want to make a change for the children who are getting abused.  I was truly touched. This is not just a plain informational blog. It's more than that—it's personal. 

J. Richard Knapp discusses in his blog a wide variety of topics relating to bullying such as the mental effects of being bullied on children, bully prevention training, ways in creating happy kids, a message for parents to teach vital core values to their kids and more.   

Recently, his post called Critical Bully Prevention Components gave some real sound advice for a prevention plan against bullying. I really thought this plan was a wonderful idea. He puts forth that there are three steps that need to take place in order to really put a stop to bullying:

• The first component is to provide the school and its staff with appropriate training and curriculum to promote both preventative and reactive strategies in bully prevention.  

• The second component targets the community as a whole. This includes strategies that reach the general population, businesses, churches, clubs, police, social services, recreation groups, and more. 

•  The third component is the education of the parent.

In my opinion, I believe that he is totally on target with this prevention plan. In order for any kind of preventative measure to be enacted all three must be addressed and stand on common ground. The school, community, and parents must all unite in response to bullying. One step will not work without the others. If one negates on its view, then all will crumble and the plan will fail. It is with the support of all on this common stand point against bullying that a powerful message will be sent to children—bullying will not be accepted nor tolerated.

Let's Make a Difference

I wanted to add that it's not enough to just tell the children that bullying is not good and it shouldn't be done. One must set good examples at home, work, and school. For example: Children are at school about 8 hours a day for five days every week. Therefore, teachers should set good examples for the kids in school. What I mean is that if a teacher bullies another child or adult, for that matter, and the kids see this—How do you think they will behave? There is an old proverbial saying, "Actions speak louder than words". In order for a powerful message to be taken seriously, we all must behave accordingly and not bully anyone ourselves.