Patch Peer Panel Question of the Week

This week's question comes from Rebecca Antony of MICDS. She wants to know if bullying a big problem at schools and are schools in general taking enough measures to stop it?

Catherine Toman, St. Joseph's Academy

I think that there’s a lot of activism about bullying. It still happens, I think, but there’s such a push to rid it from schools that the kids who are getting bullied have more resources for respite than ever before. Personally, I haven’t experienced bullying myself, nor have my peers, but I think that’s because I go to a small, all-girls school. I have heard stories about kids getting bullied at bigger schools, but there’s no way to know if they’re unexaggerated or even true at all. Bullying gets so much media coverage nowadays that I think it’s become more of a school-stereotype than an actuality. 

Victoria Watson, Villa Duchesne

Bullying is the intimidation or mistreatment of a weaker person according to the Encarta Dictionary. By this definition, there is a LOT of bullying going on that schools have not addressed.

At school, there are bound to be kids (or groups of kids) who target other students for whatever reasons. If the bullying escalates to more than just teasing and snide comments, then yes, schools should take be taking the proper measures to prevent it from happening.

With this being said, schools should not have to address the problem of bullying: the act of having to address it means that somehow, the school has created an environment that allows bullying behavior to exist without being punished.

Instead, schools should aim to create a safe environment for the students who attend them, and have consequences (that are actually enforced) for the students who bully others. Looking to the recent Chardon Ohio incident, several news networks have reported that the student charged with the shooting was a victim of bullying.

Not excusing the actions he took in any way, it could be speculated that what he did was a result of the bullying that he underwent. This event should be proof enough that schools need to come down harder on students who bully.

Allison Hermann, St. Joseph's Academy

Although it is not a large problem at my school, I do believe that bullying is a big problem in today's society. There are more and more stories in the news about kids getting hurt or even taking their own life because of bullying.

I think that schools need to start stressing how bad bullying is to kids at a younger age. I know at my grade school there is a bullying program the promotes how bad it is and how it is not okay.

Schools need to step in when it is happening and they need to remind kids that there are always people they can talk to if they are being bullied. Counselors should be available to any child at every school if they need to talk to someone.

Bullying is become worse and worse with every new generation of kids and we need to find a way to stop it. I believe that schools need to take it more seriously than they currently are.

Spencer Desai, MICDS

I think that bullying is not a growing issue but for the first time, it is a issue that is coming to light. With the rise in social media, bullying is being recorded online and the reasons for suicide are being traced back to bullying.

In other words, bullying is a big problem like it has always been. The biggest problem with bullying is the fact that schools are doing a fantastic job of keeping it out of their schools best they can but they can't be there outside of school.

On the weekends, on Facebook, etc., kids are constantly bullied and the efforts to prevent it just aren't enough. Schools are trying to reach out beyond school but restrictions placed on them are making it very hard to protect their students outside of the school.