Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me?: Why this phrase is flat out wrong

Bullying. We hear about it often. Some view bullying as a problem that needs to be solved, while others say that its “kids just being kids” and its all a part of growing up. I don’t believe bullying is “kids just being kids”. It is a problem, in my eyes. Our prevention strategies are not working, and ignoring it isn’t helping anyone.

How do I know this? Well, I was bullied while growing up. I tried every strategy that schools tell you to try. I tried the method of ignoring the bullies and not having a reaction, believing that they would eventually stop. That did not work. I tried reporting acts of bullying to my principal, hoping that after enduring punishment they would stop. That did not work. My mother, seeing how upset the constant taunting was making me, resorted to calling parents of some of the kids. That did not work either. It got so bad that my mother considered pulling me out of school and cyber schooling me, just so I wouldn’t have to put up with the bullies anymore. The bullying decreased in 9th grade, and was almost non-existent once I entered 10th grade. I couldn’t have been happier to be in high school, simply because I wasn’t being bullied.

No child should have to feel the way I felt. No child should come home from school crying because they are bullied. No child should avoid going to school, or have to consider homeschooling/cyber schooling just to get away from bullies. No child should have to deal with this.

We have more research now. We know the effects of bullying. We cannot just keep pretending that it is not a problem. We need to keep looking into prevention strategies, and teach kids why bullying is wrong from a young age. We have seen teens commit suicide because of bullying. We cannot keep ignoring the problem. Reports of bullying need to be taken seriously. Just telling a kid to stop bullying is not going to stop them.

Can we completely eradicate bullying? Unfortunately, probably not. Can we greatly decrease the cases of bullying? With correct prevention strategies and education, I truly believe so.