Technology and our way of life is changing faster than it ever has, which may leave parents unprepared to teach their children about bullying, the effects of it, the different forms of it, how to help someone being bullied. It can being highly common and do unaddressed due to the internet - many times people choose to record the bullying instead of stopping it.
The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services addresses this issue. They have teamed up with schools and communites to help stop and prevent bullying behavior. Not only do they assist school staff with infomation and training, state and local lawmakers have created laws and policies to protect children. On the Stopbullying.gov website, their purpose is as stated; "Outlines the range of detrimental effects bullying has on students, including impacts on student learning, school safety, student engagement, and the school environment" and "declares that any form, type, or level of bullying is unacceptable, and that every incident needs to be taken seriously by school administrators, school staff (including teachers), students, and students’ families."
Their goal is provide a healthy, safe environment that is anti-bully, and if it ever does occur it can be handled promptly. The downside is that harsh anti-bullying policies may increase the hostility of bullying behavior, and the schools are held accountable for behavior they cannot micromanage, not to mention lawsuits that hurts the education and funding of schools. We will refer to the rigorous, time-consuming anti-bullying programs as the Zero-Tolerance policies.
While Zero Tolerance policies treat bullying as a crime, it lacks restorative, coping practices, and it is only realistically stopped in the classroom. Instead of teaching bullies how not to get caught or cover their tracks online - a more alternative approach would focus on the why, and help students overcome challenges they will face for the rest of their lives. This will be effect and can be carried on for situations of bullying out of school, or on the internet.
A policy that helps child develop a strong self esteem and abilities to handle stressful bullying situations would put the power back in the hands of children, making the act of bullying obsolete. Not only would be need the support of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, it would be necessary to invest in programs that can help students develop and maintain healthy mental habits. For example, instead of believing that being bullied makes them worthless, the student can understand that the bully's behavior is a form of self-projection, or a coping mechanism for stress that they do not know how to handle properly. Healthcare professionals, school staff and parents can come together have these policys enacted, because it is easier and more realistic to build strong children that to fix broken behavior.
