Editorial: Stand up to bullying

Published 9:12 am Monday, November 29, 2010

“You shouldn’t have to be afraid to come to school,” Nya Lony.

Lony was quoted in Friday’s edition of the Albert Lea Tribune in an article on bullying. This phrase sounds so simple yet a whole nation of educators are trying to do just that — solve bullying.

We would like to suggest a couple of ideas to our local school boards, parents and educators.

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1. Have bullying workshops or assemblies. You need to treat bullying like you would drug and alcohol abuse. You concentrate on stopping drinking and driving, which of course is great, but give the same time and energy to the problem of bullying.

2. Teachers need to be involved. If you as an educator see what is going on — do something about it. If the kids don’t think you care about bullying, they will not care about bullying.

3. Parents need to be involved. Know what your kids are doing on websites, at school, on their phones and during the free time they have. Talk to them about bullying. Are they a bully? Are they being bullied? Talk to them.

4. Students need to be involved. If you see bullying, report it, stand up to it and make an effort to stop it. Be an active participant in making your school a better place to be.

These ideas sound simple, but they are not. Stopping bullying takes a great deal of work, but we need to take a stand. We need leaders. Are you that leader?