Dangerous bullying

Bullying has been part of society since the beginning of time. It ranges from animals to humans in every aspect of life. Bullying is a natural way of showing dominance. Animals do it to earn the affection of a potential mate and to be leader of the pack. This proves that humans are much like animals. Through evolution, bullying has progressed into an out of control problem in the world. This problem exist in corporate America were executives use bullying to succeed and get higher within a company. It is also used as a tactic for a business to dominate a market and increase profits. This is controlled by greed and is often misrepresented as a type of bullying, but it is. Spouse’s typically doing this is a way to get submission from their partner. Today, it is called domestic abuse. When children grow up in an environment like this, they grow up to be bully’s also. People use this tactic to get everyone around them to do exactly what they want them to do. I used to call this being a spoiled brat. But with all the attention bullying has been getting, I have had a chance to reflect on situations and realize what they really were. If everyone would take a few minutes to think about various situations in their lives, they would realize that we all are affected by some type of bullying. It is time to change this. Living is a cyber space world; there are too many ways to do severe damage to a person, especially children. Generally, when someone mentions “bullying”, a person thinks of children fighting. But, it goes much farther than that. There is usually not a specific reason that a child is targeted. Everyone is different in many ways, but a bully can find the smallest difference. If not, they will make up a reason to target another child. This is the most serious and deadly type of bully and it needs to stop. As parents, it is our responsibility to teach our children right from wrong, compassion and humanity. Being involved in their lives is the first step to eliminating any negative behavior which could lead to bullying or being a victim of bullying. Children that come from bully parents become bullies themselves. When this becomes a problem, parents usually dismiss or make excuses saying, “Kids will be kids.” This is unacceptable and we need to start holding parents responsible for the actions of their children. Every day in the news, there is another case of bullying that has gotten out of hand. Generally it does not get into the news until a child takes their own life. This is way too late. We are supposed to be a civilized society but, by allow bullying to escalate to this point makes us uncivilized. Since we cannot control how others raise their children, we need to be sure that our children know how to handle a bully. The most important ways we can do this are; talking with them and making them feel comfortable talking to us as parents. Know the warning signs; such as being withdrawn, change in grades and mood swings. Our children are our future and we need to protect them. There need to be certain laws in place to address bullying. In my opinion, parents should be punished along with the child doing the bullying. It could range from reversing the situation so that the child knows how it feels to time in a detention facility; depending on the severity. The time is now to make a change, before another child takes their own life. Please talk to your children about this and make sure they have the tools to overcome a difficult situation. I came across a great website that we need to share with everyone. www.standtogether.us