Most of you that have followed along with this blog or what I talk about on social media will know that besides the law enforcement use of social media, one of my passions is causes that seek to find solutions to bullying.
I am the first to admit that I don’t believe there are any easy solutions to ending bullying. I do however believe that the more awareness that is brought to the subject and education that can be given will go along way in changing the environment and in the long run, finding solutions.
One of the major issues that stands in the way of bullying is the cycle of acceptance that has been created for decades over the issue. When I was in school, bullying was deemed to be a part of “growing up.” Even now, many people consider bullying a natural right of passage. Think about it…there are people who think it’s just ok and natural to bully people.
I’m not one of them and I know that many of you out there feel the same.
Bullying can occur for many different reasons.
Kids get picked on because:
- they wear different clothes
- they talk different
- they have physical challenges
- they have mental challenges
- they are smart
- they are not smart
- they don’t like sports
- they like a certain music
- they like art
- they are poor
- they are entitled
The list goes on and on. The root often times is a misunderstanding and a lack of respect for other people’s values or ideals. It doesn’t matter what the reason is though…all that matters is it is wrong.
My son was bullied once at school which ended in his iPod being broken. I wasn’t satisfied with the response from the school who tried to minimize the issue as, “boys will be boys” situation and the best way they thought to deal with it was to have my son remove himself from the situation. Wrong…dead wrong. That’s one of the problems our kids face. Band-Aid solutions are put on arterial bleeds. It just doesn’t work. In the end the bullies had to face what they did, my son’s iPod was replaced and the school apologized for their handling of it.
What happened there can and does happen in so many other places and often the kids that get bullied learn over time they don’t get the support they need and they simply stop talking to people about it. With that comes a lack of support and a feeling that they have to where to turn.
In the extreme cases, many of these kids become Internet sensations because of the speed, voracity and anonymous ability of social media. The absolute brutal nature of it has led kids to take their own lives because of the loss of hope they feel.
On Tuesday, October 7th, #HNMChat a chat will be happening on Twitter at 9pm ET to talk about bullying. @HNMKids will be hosting the chat and using the hashtag #HNMChat.
The Hurt No More organization will be hosting the chat to make sure the conversation takes place. Hurt No More is a group dedicated to end bullying through a program of learning and understanding that doesn’t focus on a “rah, rah let’s stop bullying” approach, but instead an entire program that has been developed to not define acts of bullying or target bullies, but to shine a light on the entire cycle and solutions.
Tuesday, September 20th 9pm ET #HNMChat on Twitter
I hope you will join the chat to help raise awareness and help shine that light.
Take a look at the site if you can and also give @HNMKids a follow on Twitter.
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