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Andrew Moulton
SCED 663 Advanced Trends in Education
Mallorca
July 11, 2014
Second assignment: Bullying

Rebecca P. Harlin
Bullying and Violence Issues in Childrens Lives: Examining the Issues and Solutions
Ernest Andrew Brewer and Rebecca P. Harlin
Bullying: A Human Rights and Social Studies Issue

As the title suggests, Harlins introductory article first poses the issues and then suggests
solutions to bullying and violence in our childrens schoolroom lives. She talks largely about girl
bullying, citing Rachel Simmons Odd Girl Out (2002), and also providing a personal account of
her nieces experiences of being shunned by her long standing friends for some unknown
reasons. Bullying is not a recent trend, and Harlin references the ACEI mission statement of
1892 which promotes the, inherent rights, education and well being of all children in the home,
school and community (Harlin pg. 338). She provides an overview of the other eight articles in
the magazine that are suggestive of the larger international trend of bullying. She ends with the
argument that the perception of bullying as a rite of passage must be destroyed; bullying must
not be socially acceptable or the norm (pg. 339).
In the second article Harlin pairs with Ernest Brewer to offer a place to address the theme of
bullying within the school community. They recommend the social studies classroom as a place
to begin the conversation about bullying since social studies classes are already exploring ideas
of community, justice, and human rights within the standard curriculum. The authors stipulate
that students need experiences such as discussion and role play in order to gain understanding,
but they also need practical skills such as conflict resolution to actively wage war against
bullying.
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Both articles were published in 2008 making this information feel a bit dated; however, as it is
pointed out in the first article it is a recurring theme throughout time and across nations, and the
foundational question they raise is important to consider: Who is responsible for the safety of our
children in the school environment; what is the role of the teacher?
These two articles emphasize the pivotal role of the teacher in cultivating a sense of inclusion (as
exclusion is a form of bullying), personal responsibility, and empathy. They make the case that it
is teachers who are responsible for coordinating all community members to enact a part in
assuaging the physical, verbal, and emotional bullying in the classroom. I might suggest that it is
not the classrooms so much as it is in the unsupervised areas such as the hallways and
bathrooms, and the unstructured environments such as the gym, where bullying is the most
dramatic and punishing.
Both articles suggest that teachers are ultimately responsible for making the classroom safe for
all students. I agree wholeheartedly. The teacher is the role model of inclusion. In reflecting upon
my adolescence and high school life, I am struck by how softly the line between victims and
perpetrators becomes and in which situations people play different roles. These articles fail to
define who are the bullies and who are the victims. They fail to address the reasons why these
young people are bullying and fail to consider why there should be compassion shown to the
bullies as well as to the victims. I think that we as teachers need to listen hard to the words
between and underneath the actions of a bully as there is often times a root that needs watering.
If the large percentage of bullying happens outside the classroom, are we as teachers supposed to
then focus our energies there? And if so, how do we as teachers get rest and nourishment for
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ourselves while policing eight hours, or in the case of my prior school, twenty four hours a day
seven days a week?
But perhaps more important than that is the question, when is it bullying and when is it a one off
fight. And why is bullying still around? The difference I see between bullying and a random act
of violence is persistence. Bullying occurs persistently over a period of time. It causes the victim
to alter her routines and has many related problems such as absenteeism, lower academic
performance, and social bonding. I posit that bullying is still pervasive because of the
humiliation associated with it, the lack of a designated space for discussing it, and its pervading
silence. Victims suffer in silence, too humiliated to ask for help. This needs to change.