I have seen so many videos and stories over the years about kids being bullied and just out right harmful shenanigans going on at or around schools in America.
Every time it comes up, including school shootings, there has been one response in my mind: If I were a parent in this generation I would be meeting with other concerned parents and working out schedules with the school for around the clock (school hours) volunteer parent monitors. 2 or 3 adults on the school grounds to put a stop to kids behaving badly, or more if a large school, should stop bullying (and SEX!) to a certain degree and it would help secure the grounds from possible shooters. Senior high school students could be added to the monitor teams as a volunteer service they can add to their transcripts, many of them don’t put in a full day of classes anyway. Where are the outraged parents and what are they doing about the situation other than yelling on social media about it?
Where are the parents? Then you hear from the parents of the bully or bullied saying “not my kid” or “I had no idea”. What? Get involved people. If any parent claims they had no idea bullying is a problem, they are lying or ignorant and likely the parent of a bully and if you think just because your child isn’t being bullied so it isn’t your problem, you are a part of the problem.
In high school I was bullied by a teacher once and my mother marched down to the school and handled it. Guess what? It never happened again. My mother raised four children, went to college and worked while we grew up. The teachers at my school all knew her and who her children were. She was involved.
If the response is that both parents work or their family size takes all of their time/energy so no family has an adult able to volunteer a few hours a week to make sure the schools are safer, maybe that is the problem? If a parent of a child is too busy with a baby, working and/or hobbies to focus a few hours on their child’s livelihood, maybe that is the problem? If you don’t have time or energy to actively parent a child WHY ARE YOU HAVING CHILDREN?
I’m just saying, if I were a parent and was worried about bullies at my kid’s school (which EVERY parent should be at this stage), you can bet your ass I would be at the school making sure it is as safe as possible. In fact if I thought it was possible I’d still volunteer to do it even though I have no children but the logistics of having an adult on the grounds who isn’t a parent is probably a legal nightmare. I may still look into it when we return to the U.S.
American schools are under-staffed and under-financed and parents are so quick to lay the blame on the school, why aren’t you doing something about the situation instead of assuming someone else is and relying on someone else to manage it?
Where are the parents? Get off Facebook and do something about it! Spreading Social Media awareness is not you fighting bullying. Cutting your hours back at work or giving up the salon visit so you can volunteer to make your child’s school a bit safer is you fighting bullying.
Kids are marching for a safe school….PARENTS SHOULD BE RALLYING TO FREAKING HANDLE IT! Stop complaining and pointing fingers and get your ass to the school board and make it possible for a volunteer adult monitor team to be set up and start working out a schedule and rules for dealing with a child stepping out of line and the one being hurt.
Maybe I’m just an idiot here but it’s my thoughts.
Life Notes 