Bullying at schools.....

Those who can, do

Those who can't bully.

- Anon

I opened the news today, yet another school kid a victim to bullying and violence in a Queensland school. Over a decade ago, when the Columbine High School massacre happened followed by various episodes of violence in US schools, we used to claim that Australia was a safer place to raise kids. However, the incidents that have been happening lately in schools around here are slowly eroding our confidence in the Queensland education system.

It is the lives of young kids that we are talking about, so as a parent I am unable to stay away from expressing my fears and concerns on this topic. If schools are not safe for them, then how can we guarantee their safety in the community, at workplace and in the world? When kids ought to be watching cartoons, playing on the streets and learning to build friendships, you hear of them wielding knives, guns and handing out death sentences. How did we as parents, as school authorities allow our kids to get this far? How are we being blind to this affliction that is permeating our schools?

Statistics all around the world indicate that bullying and violence are escalating in schools and that anti-bullying measures put in place are not effective because the intervention of parents and authorities are too late in most cases. The news is not encouraging especially when you have kids who will stand out to be different given their ethnicity, their religion, their appearances or their disabilities. One can no longer bury their head in the sand pretending it is all happening elsewhere and the problem will go away.

This friday is SAY NO TO BULLYING Day in Queensland. I am hunting for something orange to dress the family in on that day. I urge my Queensland friends reading this blog to voice their support on this day to stop the vicious cycle of bullying and violence that starts in school. Let us not be silent spectators but instead proactively discourage this behaviour and work towards raising kids in safer environments. Remember it is not a one-off incident, what starts out in the making of a bully or a victim has serious consequences in future - it is a well proven fact that these kids will develop lasting effects that will make them misfits in society.

As a parent, I would not want that for any kid, especially mine.