Morning Pages 3-24-16

Since I did not get to class in time for the Morning Pages, I am here catching up on Friday night! And since I already wrote a letter to the future President, I will choose another topic of my own interest.

I'd like to write about what I think are going to be good topics for my Teacher as Advocate Badge.

I recently was introduced to the movie "Bully" and it was really intense and moving. I didn't realize how serious bullying is these days, and it made me scared to think how many kids are bullied that don't even talk about it to anyone.  That is where the danger lies, and that is when they are most at risk. I think it is important for kids who are being bullied to have some friend, family member or ally of some sort whom they can share with, and get help in standing up in some way to the bully.
From the film, I realized that it isn't a matter that one person can remedy, it takes a whole community. Peers, teachers, mentors and school administration has to be on board to eradicate bullying in schools. There has to be an open and clear message that it is not acceptable, it is hurtful, and detrimental to the whole school.
But in this day and age with social media, so much bullying now has gone faceless, when kids create profiles of fake people and use those profiles to do the damaging act of bullying. The kids who are bullied in these circumstances do not have anyone to blame.  They are just seeing a fake name and the hurtful words or images that come with the cyber bullying.
I think if educators and parents took more initiative to stop bullying by showing films, media, and talking about bullying then there would be a better chance to raise awareness around it in students.
No child deserves to hurt themselves or be hurt in the hands of a bully or bullying.
Children who are encouraged and lifted up can really take on anything, but the opposite causes such pain, anger, and danger that it is a serious problem that our society must face.  It seems it is the country towns that are not doing enough about this problem, and are in a way supporting bullying to continue.
People need to consider who they are voting into office and hiring into their schools so that there is a shared prerogative to really weed out the insidious seed of bullying.