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Opinion
Effort
to stop bullying should be a welcome step
December
6, 2006
Every
child who has attended school anywhere in South Carolina more
than likely has seen a bully at work. Many of them no doubt,
have been victims.
Most of the time, it seems, the bully is
the biggest in a group. Contrary to what some might think, the
bully is not always a boy. Sometimes it’s a girl who throws
her weight around. Male or female, though, both deal in fear
and intimidation. They usually pick on the smaller and
sometimes younger students. Sometimes, to be sure, students
are not only frightened, they are beaten by
bullies.
THE DICTIONARY
DEFINES A bully as a blustering, browbeating
person, particularly one who is habitually cruel to others who
are weaker. It defines bullying as to treat abusively, to
affect by means of force or coercion; also to use browbeating
language or behavior.
A child, though, doesn’t need a
dictionary definition to recognize a bully. Unfortunately, too
many already know all too well. The effects of bullying has
drastically hurt the chances of many boys and girls to learn
as they should.
That, of course, has always been a factor
in the lives of many school children and, unfortunately, it’s
not helped by the violence that’s been seen around the
country.
Actually, it could be that some parents never know
that a child is suffering at the hands of a bully. It could be
emotional and have a long-term effect, or it could be the
reason some fall behind in the classroom and ultimately
fail.
WHATEVER IT TAKES AND whatever
the results, it’s gratifying to see South Carolina make an
official effort to address bullying in its public schools. The
State Legislature passed and Gov. Mark Sanford signed a new
directive to all 85 school districts requiring them to
crackdown on bullying. The districts have until the first of
the year to adopt an anti-bullying policy. For the first time
schools must define bullying and outline procedures to track
and punish such behavior.
The dictionary definition is a
good place to start. However, as in most things, common sense
tells anyone what bullying is and who is doing the
bullying.
It’s a good start to an ages-old problem. It
won’t be worth anything, though, unless there is
accountability, and that requires follow-through.
Editorial expression in this feature represents
our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.
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