Encourage Reporting

         How many bully stories have you heard, read, or seen? Even if you have not, bullying is definitely a familiar topic for you. Many times, when a student is being bullied, they would go into extreme measures just to avoid going to school. The mild situations would be to fake sick or hide during lunch and recess. But sometimes, the child would skip classes, maybe even the entire school day and return home as if nothing had happened. Their grades would drop, they would smile less, and their self-esteem would get so low from how they were before. But when you ask them about it, they would claim that nothing had happened.

           We often tell children to rely on themselves and stop nagging us about petty things. We tell them to be responsible and that they can handle their own problems. Because of those words, they see us as helpless, and they do not see the worth in telling an adult. According to the Committee for Children, “The perception that adults don’t act may lead students to conclude that adults don’t care, or that there are different standards for adults’ behavior than for young people’s.”  Since kids believe that we will not understand them, they would avoid telling us to save themselves the trouble and avoid being hurt.

           This is why we must put in the effort to listen when they need us to and help in any way we can. This is why we should encourage kids to report their problems, but we should also teach them the difference between “Jonny’s in my room again” and "Penelope stole my books and kicked me down the stairs.” Either way, we must, and I mean must tell everyone, not only the victim, to tell an adult or anyone that can help that they are facing bullying. StopBullying.gov says the key solution to help stop bullying is to motivate kids to report it.

             Many people, all around the world are being bullied, whether mentally, emotionally, or physically. Adults sometimes give the impression of helplessness, which causes children to avoid reporting. What guardians and teachers can do to solve this problem is to encourage kids to come up to them, and promise to listen, because listening is the most important thing if we want to stop bullying worldwide.