Pledge to End Bullying NOW!

Bullying effects our children, our families, our neighbors, our society. It’s wrong, it’s got to stop and YOU can pledge to make that happen!

It happened in elementary school.

I rode the bus to school and back every day with all the other kids who lived on our street. Most of them were friends. One of them wasn’t.

He wasn’t older than me. In fact, I think he was younger than me. He was mean. The kind of mean that only comes from some kind of really rotten home life. I don’t know why he picked on me specifically. Maybe because I was the smallest one on the bus. Maybe because he felt my fear. On the way home every day, he would take my shoes off and throw them outside of the bus at our stop. I had to get off the bus without my shoes and go find them. And put them on. In front of everyone.

It was a long time ago. I don’t remember all the details. But I remember. At 47, I still remember.

Every time I hear about a child who died because they were bullied one way or another, I sit down and tell my kids. I don’t do it to scare them. I do it to remind them that we all have choices. We don’t have to be bullied. We can say no. We can tell someone. We can help someone.

The schools all have anti-bullying programs that tell our kids not to be bullies. Some might “get it”. Most probably won’t. Being a bully doesn’t happen overnight. It comes from kids seeing and hearing bad behavior so often enough that they start to believe it’s okay behavior. Bullying is awful, but it doesn’t mean a child who does it is necessarily a bad kid. Bullying is a learned behavior… it can also be a corrected behavior. As adults, it is our job to recognize it… and stop it. Our kids are depending on us.

So, what CAN we do? We can…

Listen. When our kids tell us someone is bothering them or bothering a friend, ask questions. Find out the why, when, where, who and how.
Look. Watch out for a change in behavior. Is your child eating too much, eating too little, are their grades slipping?
Ask. It just takes minutes to ask your kids how their day was, how their friends are doing, what they did during the day.
Talk. Tell your kids about your personal experiences with bullying (if you have any). Let them know they can talk to you. Let them know they should talk about it if it happens to them or someone they know.
Educate. Help your kids and other adults know what to look out for. Bullying interferes with learning and with self-esteem. It is everyone’s problem.
Be Brave. If your child has never been bullied… that’s awesome. But, changes are, they have a friend who has. There is power in numbers. Have them get a group together and stand up for each other.
Take the Pledge.