Bullying and social inclusion: zero tolerance is the only way

Posted in Sandi's blog on 25 May 2010 | 0 Comments

When you are the parent of a school aged child, you have access to a wealth of insights, not only about how young minds are shaped and how so many influences and factors are at play, but also how important the things that those working in education do or don’t do are in the grand scheme of things.

What they do or don't do about bullying is fundamental to how our children view how society is organised and what the rules of morality are, so getting this wrong is quite frankly out of the question. I have recently had the misfortune of standing by, feeling quite useless, whilst I have watched a dear friend’s once effervescent nine year old dyslexic daughter gradually lose her sparkle at the hands of a rather astute emotional bully.

The developments in understanding the human psyche have led us to the realisation that bullying of any kind should simply not be tolerated, but particularly emotional bullying, which without careful attention and prompt action by the people who we put our trust in to keep our children safe from any sort of harm, can go undetected with some rather catastrophic results. At best, the victim will grow up with little or no confidence or self-esteem and at worst, well it doesn't bear thinking about. But the other side of this broken coin is that, if gone undetected and the bullying continues, this behaviour is deemed acceptable by both the bully and the victim and the cycle rolls on.

I know that there are plenty of folk advocating for zero tolerance on bullying, but the laws and policies that have been put in place are contradictory. Teachers have minimal ability to take any action and the system actually disincentivises any action for chronic bullying, since excluding or expelling a child from a school is regarded as a failure in the school’s ability to manage behaviour. I wonder how well our legal system would fare if there were no penalties for committing crimes.

And if this is where we stand, my concern is that the inclusive society that so many of us are striving towards is seriously at risk if the people responsible for educating and protecting our children are unable to demonstrate zero tolerance for bullying. If we allow this sorry state of affairs to continue, we will become even more polarised as a society and people in any type of minority, who are the most common victims of bullying, will recoil.

I am not saying that educators are solely responsible for teaching our children to act kindly and compassionately towards everyone and to not accept hurtful or cruel behaviour from others. We all have a role in making sure that the rules we play by are fair, as children look to those who set the rules to not only live by them but to enforce them if they are broken.

Children learn about the 3 Rs in the classroom and about life in the playground and if bullies are allowed to prevail, then how on earth will social inclusion even get a look in.

0 comments | Tags: Bullying, Disability, Discrimination, Social Inclusion