Are kids responsible for stepping in to prevent bullying?
Overview
Should kids act to stop bullying, or should they leave it up to adults?
Are kids responsible for stepping in to prevent bullying?
Kendra started at a new school in the seventh grade when, during her first week, a group of girls started teasing her. Soon after, more kids joined in and now she gets called names every day. People push her in the hallways. They steal her backpack and throw it in the trash. Kendra wants help, but she is mortified to tell her parents or her teachers because she feels that she is to blame for everything that is happening.
Bullying is a significant problem in schools today. Anyone, boys or girls, can be bullies or victims. Bullying can take many forms. Punching, teasing, and spreading hearsay all constitute bullying. About half of all kids say they have been bullied at some point during their time in school. Many kids who have experienced bullying have low self-esteem. Consequently, some try to avoid school, and some even think about killing themselves.
It is important for schools to promote equity and respect among all students. No one should be treated like they are less than anyone else. Therefore, many people believe that schools should be required to pass rules to legislate an end to bullying.
However, even though all schools have rules against bullying, these rules are generally ineffective and do not resolve the problem. Perhaps peer intervention constitutes the only resolution to bullying. Should kids step up when they see bullying incidents? Some researchers state that the onlookers who observe but do nothing about bullying incidents are as culpable as the bullies.
Many bystanders are afraid to intercede, fearing they themselves will be targeted by bullies. Furthermore, many kids just don’t know what to do and believe it is easier to just walk away. So rather than amending the rules about bullying, maybe schools should teach kids what actions they can take when they see a bullying occurrence.
Is it fair to blame bystanders for not intervening to resolve the bullying incident? Should kids put themselves in danger to protect their classmates?
Credits:
Text credit: Word Generation by SERP and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, By Michel Rathwell from Cornwall, Canada - Intimidation Sculpture, CC BY 2.0.