Bullying in our Schools Essay -- Violence Education Bullies Essays

Bullying in our Schools Bullies are an inextricable element of classroom culture, and they have been since long before it occurred to an educational expert to author a study about them. For a long time, the attitude toward bullying was that it is simply a natural part of the school experience – with so many children together, some would say it is unavoidable – but that it was mostly harmless and that the children would grow out of it. The events of April 20th, 1999 demonstrated just how dangerous that way of thinking was. Every American remembers the shooting that occurred that day at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO; Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates, thirteen of whom died of their injuries. Although the mass media jumped to blame the tragedy on violent video games and music, most local sources mentioned that Harris and Klebold had constantly been the victims of bullies, some of whom were among the deceased. The media quickly picked up the trail and led with their new story: victims of bullying had brutally fought back against their tormentors. Appropriately, there was a national outcry; parents demanded to know what could be done to prevent â€Å"another Columbine† from happening in their children’s schools. Experts testified on national television, discussing what needed to be done to rectify the situation. The dialogue eventually closed, and, as it often goes, schools maintained the status quo. When the outrage died down, the pressure was lifted from schools’ shoulders, and their impetus to affect change was removed. Pressure must be reapplied to accomplish this necessary goal of reducing (if not eliminating) bullying in our school system. ... ...he elimination of bullying in our schools should be a prominent nationwide goal. Not only does it generally inhibit the performance of victims, but it also can have much more explosive, pernicious effects, such as the Columbine massacre of 1999. It should be the priority of educators everywhere to do whatever they can to ensure the safety and academic success of our students, and one of the first necessary steps in that uphill battle is to educate them in how to protect themselves from bullies. Until we as a society have done this, our main duty to our students, our children, will remain unfulfilled. WORKS CITED â€Å"Columbine High School massacre." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre Ingram, Scott. â€Å"Why Bullies Behave Badly.† Current Health Nov 2000. 20-1. Nudo, Lori. â€Å"Fighting the Real Bullies.† Prevention Nov 2004. 123-4.