Just about everyone I speak with knows someone who is a teenager and is experiencing some level of bullying in school. The biggest fear that a parent used to have regarding their teenage children was peer pressure. “Will my child feel the need to follow the crowd to fit in?” Have you ever found yourself asking that question? Today, we have to ask ourselves if the self esteem of the teenagers we are raising is being destroyed by a bully, and are they being placed in psychological and physical danger on a daily basis? My question is when do we stop asking questions and start demanding answers from the Boards of Education and the leaders on campus? It’s time for a few of us to stand up, put our foot down and take this battle to a new level so our kids can accomplish the academic goals every young person should have instead of constantly living in fear or humiliation.
My nephew Austin has literally been driven to the brink of considering suicide on several occasions because he feels desperate to be accepted and to escape the misery he lives in each day. Even though he is legally handicap and only has 40% hearing in one ear and 60% in the other, he is mainstreamed with no teacher’s aide. The defense the school system gives is that the funding is just not there. However, if you obtain an attorney or push the issue with the Board of Education, after testimony from a physician, they will give in. In the mean time, the child pays the price for being “different.” Austin has more challenges than simple physical obstacles. He suffers from emotional disorders, which obviously are hereditary. On a daily basis he endures taunting and criticism from others about his speech, appearance, and living arrangement. For the last two years, my mother has had custody of Austin, her only grandchild, and he sees very little of his parents. Other teenagers accuse him of being unlovable and earlier this month one young boy even accused him of being romantically involved with his grandmother. The vile and vulgarity that the youth of today spend their time spewing is unbelievable. What is more unbelievable to me is that we as a society can’t get control of it. This is going to be one of our biggest failures as a nation.
The rise in teen suicide is undeniable. It’s painful to hear stories of young boys and girls hanging themselves because they are taunted for appearance, living arrangement, sexual orientation, etc. At what point did parents stop teaching their children to mind their own business and keep their hands off each other and their mouths shut? At what point did we stop teaching children the golden rule? In fact, how many teenagers can actually tell you what the golden rule is? Maybe this is another symptom or side effect of taking God out of schools and filling the classrooms with educators who are overwhelmed in schools that are understaffed.
We have to start with prayer. We all need to spend more time on our knees talking to God about what is best for our children and praying that we have the strength and the resources to defeat what is infecting and eroding the morals of a generation. Secondly, there has to be accountability. Laws must be passed and ENFORCED regarding bullying. Regardless of the circumstances of each child nothing is worth a life going to waste. When it comes right down to it as Americans, we should stand up and say each and every one of our children have a legal right to an education without interruption or harassment. If education administrators can’t handle the situation, they need to be removed and I don’t give a hoot about their tenure. Every job I have ever worked required a certain level of performance and that performance was determined by how well I served the general public, managed company profits, achieved goals, etc. The same standards need to be in place for teachers and Principals.
I also believe the behavior of every child starts with circumstances at home. Austin is accountable for his behavior as well. He has not had the ideal upbringing, no one does anymore. It’s rare for a child to have the kind of home life that existed 25-30 years ago. Many young boys and girls who are bullies come from broken homes and are lashing out, but also many of them come from self-righteous materialistic homes and they have the example of their parents of looking down on everyone else.
I am completely fed up and I don’t plan on sitting on the sidelines and watching my nephew suffer through three more years of high school constantly as a victim of bullying. Physical and emotional abuse should be punishable by law at any and every age. This is a conversation we must keep going. We have to do whatever it takes to save the lives of the innocent and give them the start in life that everyone deserves. Please pass this along to as many as you can and let’s stop this cycle. The only way to bring about change is with your voice, your heart, and your hands. I hope we can all start making a difference before bad goes to worse.
God bless you all.
