June Hunt gives some great ideas to the parents and teachers
of the bullied. She describes the bully, the bullied and the bystander. Never
have I realized the power of the “bystander.” As an elementary school teacher I
was always the champion of the unlovely students. My heart broke as I read Hunt’s
first 46 pages. I literally had to stop reading until the next day. She uses
many resources to support her information. One that influenced me when I was
teaching in the public school was the non-fiction book by Frank Peretti. Most of
the bullied students referred to in the first half of the booklet were
teenagers. What a difficult time adolescence can be, especially if you are
different from the status quo. Remembering when “High School Musical” came out
they highlighted that it was alright for a basketball player to sing and a smart
girl to hip hop. Teachers have the perfect position to make a difference in the
life of a bullied student. But peer pressure can change the whole school. Parents
should use teachable moments to educate their children to be sensitive to
students that are different.
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