Later today, Secretary Duncan will join President and First Lady Obama for a White House Conference on Bullying Prevention. As a parent, student, or educator, you may be asking yourself “why is so much attention being paid to bullying, isn’t bullying just part of growing up?” The fact is that for too long, bullying has been dismissed as “kids being kids.” Yet, bullying is a serious problem that not only affects a child’s self esteem and emotional well-being, but can significantly affect a child’s ability to learn.
At a Bullying Prevention Summit last fall, Secretary Duncan explained that a great school needs to be a safe school and that “every child is entitled to a quality education and no child can get a quality education if they don’t first feel safe at school.” The Secretary noted that all of us need to do our part to prevent bullying whether we are students, teachers, school staff, parents, or concerned citizens. By working together, we have the chance to truly make a difference, while creating safe and inviting learning environments.
You can watch today’s White House Conference on Bullying Prevention live by visiting the whitehouse.gov/live website.
For more information on bullying prevention, visit www.StopBullying.gov or become a fan of www.Facebook.com/StopBullying.gov
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Bullying is not just the kids being childish, it is serious problem for both parties- bullied and the bullies. I have two kids and trying to get them right so they are not bullies but also not being bullies themselves. It is a very difficult task as it is extremely hard to show them the fine line between fun and bulling. My daughter goes to marshal arts to learn how to defend herself from physical attacks and I talk to her to enable her to identify mental bulling. Now, I’d say that I have achieved major success with all that to get her to openly talk to me about her issues and few days back she told me that older boy will come with his friends and will come to her class and lough at her about her funny smile and big teeth. Lucky, or unlucky this happened, I have made her to understand that this is a mental bulling. Now she knows it and it is easy for her to identify it and deal with it. By the the boy does not bully her as she has resolved it with her teacher.
I am the parent of a 5 year old kindergarten student who was enrolled at an Elementary School in Hawaii.
Since August, 2010, my child has been assaulted almost on a daily basis by students in the school. In November, 2010, an older student punched him in his nose, picked him up and slammed him to the floor–this happened in the bathroom without adult supervision.
School authorities were notified but this fell onto deaf ears and my family decided that for my child’s emotional and physical safety that he be withdrawn.
When we tried to enroll him in a school which is closer to our home, our request was denied.
The Governor’s office was informed and it took over a month for the DOE to respond.
It is my hope that Secretary Duncan reads this and can provide some assistance as the matter needs to be resolved as my son has become withdrawn and depressed.
Thank you for your comment Shirley. You may want to visit the “My Child is Being Bullied” page at StopBullying.gov for more information on steps you can take.
Cameron Brenchley
My son was recently assaulted at school and suffered a fractured nose and a busted lip. The principal called this behavior “boys will be boys”. I fail to agree. Now this past Thursday he was threatened by a teacher to have someone “beat him”. The police tell me this is a school board matter only. There is no help or hope for the ones being bullied. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THEM!
I hope the summit gets individuals focused on this problem. The bottom line is that parents need to get involved with, well, parenting. In today’s world, it means understanding how and where bullying can take place. Online bullying is a problem that must be dealt with in a meaningful way.
I’ve recently authored a mini-series on protecting kids online – that includes from bullying. I would encourage you to take a look at http://www.onlinekidshield.com and the child safety resource we’ve put together. It is only by getting the parents engaged and vigilant that we will put a dent in the bullying and other online threats to our children.
Dave
bullying is a very serious issue and needs attention just as much as all the other problems we have going on in the world.and for someone to think that disregarding the fact that bullying is an issue must not have children.i have two and i have had to deal with bullying and one of the bullies was a teacher.so if our kids cannot even be safe with a teacher, then who can they depend on when they are at school?so the Obama’s are right on track and is doing what needs to be done to protect our children at school.
Not only is the peer vs. peer bullying, but how about the teacher who takes a student into the hall and threaten to fell him if the student does write homework notes in Cornell format. Isn’t this childest? Before I could get to the school and question his statement, he realized what he said and told the student, I am sorry for the way I spoke with to you, your notes look great and I can frame them on my wall. If everyone could take the time of their day to treat others the way they/kids would like to be treated. The world could be a better place.
This is s serious issue we need to work together to find a solution. we have growing number of children who are helpless to make it stop and see no end to it. my daughter gave up was completely destroyed by the torment, torture she had to endure at the hands of bullies. not one person teacher counselor friend took action to help her to intervene she took her own life on the second day of December of 2010 in her name we are going to make a change for the next innocent child.
JONBENET RAMSEY INVESTIGATOR RELEASES BOOK ON BULLYING Http://Profilingyourlife.com/
with everything going on in the world that needs looking at the oboma’s are out being stupid as they seen to be more and more lately. how sad that they are such lousy leaders. I would not follow them in any thing they do,what a wast of time.