Seems to me that it would be a Good Thing.
D
"Emotional bullying" (or any other type) won't be stopped by the school until it stops in the workplace, home, laundry, country club, church or anywhere else people congregate.
Wouldn't the school be guilty of emotional bullying by publically accusing someone of emotional bullying? Besides that, it's not the schools job..is it? That should be left to such expert malcontents as Hillary, Barbera Boxer, Diane Fienstien and Oprah.
The people in the professional education establishment are the biggest bullies going.
I'm talking about simply kicking the bullies out of school. Period. End of story.
Hey, the world needs gas station attendants, burger flippers and street cleaners too. And most bullies end up taking those jobs anyhow. So why keep them in school where all they do is harass the kids who actually want to learn something and make something of themselves?
I know exactly what it was like to be bullied and "socially isolated." I have a mild case of Tourette's Syndrome and my twitches made me a social outcast and the target of bullies the entire time I was in school. I had "friends" desert me because they didn't want to become the targets of bullies themselves. So I was left on my own. Screw the people who are saying here that I should have just toughened up and that life's not fair, blah, blah, blah. I did toughen up, but it made no difference. They just came at me 4 on one or 5 on one. I already knew that life wasn't fair - I didn't need that lesson reinforced day after day with constant verbal and physical harrassment. It got so bad in high school that I couldn't go into the cafeteria or the bathrooms, except after school, where I would hide in the bathroom for a half hour so that I didn't have to get beat up on my way home.
My public school education was ruined by these thugs. Good thing I joined the Marine Corps to get the hell out of that environment. And good thing that instead of turning to drugs or other self-destructive ways to ease my disenchantment with life in general, I simply lost myself in books. And I never stopped reading to this day so that I am as educated, if not better educated, than just about any college grad.
Our public high schools have turned into jungles and I have no reason they are any better today, even with all the wishy-washy "zero-tolerance" policies towards physical violence. The problem can only be solved by throwing the disruptive kids out of school and turning our public schools into institutions of learning once again - not warehouses for troubled kids.
The article never says... I hate it when that happens.
Well, it used to be that bullies finally got their a$$es kicked by someone which 'taught' them that it wasn't worth their while to do it anymore. The problem in the last 20-25 years is that someone started this 'don't hit people' idea, and the bullies took great advantage of that. THEY would hit or punch or knock someone down surreptitiously so THEY wouldn't get in trouble, but if someone tried to hit back the original victim would be the one to get in trouble.
When our #2 son was in the 3rd grade, he was one of the new kids in school. Until Christmas, the class bully picked on a different boy, who didn't return after Christmas vacation. So the bully turned on my son. He would come home and complain and I would tell him to tell the teacher or stay away from the boy. I SO wanted to tell him to just smack the kid, but thought that wasn't the right thing to say to him. One day, I went to pick him up from school and had to chat with the headmaster because our son was 'fighting on the playground'. Turns out, our son had had just about enough and flattened the kid during recess. When I asked the headmaster what the school policy was on dealing with problems between kids on the playground, he said "We try to get them to work it out". I said, "Well, our son worked it out, what's YOUR problem!" That bully NEVER bothered our son again!
If someone is a consistent bully, he or she needs to be taken to task for it. There's no excuse for putting us with that kind of crap! I don't care if we had to put up with it as kids or not, it's not right and never will be. I don't think all these 'programs' with their talking points, etc. will work; the kids who tend to bully will find a way to get around the talking and discussing. If kids are bullying, they should be punished to the point that it is not worth their while to even attempt it!
Life in school is a preparation for life as an adult. Children do not think of themselves as children, they think of themselves as people. They should be taught to take care of themselves just as adults have to. If children are brought up in a mini-society(school) where liberal government-type policies and attitudes prevail they will end up believing that these attitudes are the right ones and that these policies are a good idea. Schools should be as self-regulatory as possible and children should be allowed to grow up in a society where they mostly take care of themselves(from their point of view). Yes, watch their activities and teach them about right and wrong. Yes, care for them and provide for them. Yes, help them when they call for help(and teach them when it is appropriate to do so). But do not let them grow up thinking that there should always be someone in power there to solve their problems for them.
By the way, I am a HS senior who has been homeschooled and educated in public and private schools, so I know what I am talking about.
Personally, I think I'd rather take the bullying.
--Boris