Is Bullying Still As Bad in Schools Nowadays?

Hey bruv - no you aren't seeing things it really is your big sis! lol I know you had a terrible time with bullying - I did too as a matter of fact til I got to about 15 and could make those bullies shrivel up with a few good responses. Bullying is still bad and it is still traumatic and widespread - as you know both Niall and Niamh have experienced some bullying. I think nowadays the difference is that the teachers DO take it seriously and they are trying their best to sort things out when it does happen and apart from them realising the impact it can have on children their is also a legal obligation that schools deal with bullying. I know that not everyone will be lucky enough to have a school that does deal with the issue as well and to those people I would suggest that if they get nowhere with the teacher ramp it up to the headteacher/principal and if they still do not get the problem resolved then to ramp up to the Education Authority and do not give in and think that no one cares - someone will be able to help you - it is just a matter of finding the right person! Hugs ickle bro! xxx

I think it depends on the school. It seems a lot of schools ow accept that bullying happens and try to do something about it but there are still schoolw where they insist they don't have a problem with bullying and these are the ones that still do nothing to address the issue. My eldest child was bullied y one boy for some time, she was always very placid but one day she hit him, he ran from her and never bullied her again. My middle one suffered name calling but didn't tell me about it until she left school. People tried to bully the youngest with name calling but she had the strength not to let it bother her and they gave up. I was bullied by two girls for a while but some of the 'naughty boys' decided they liked me because I was fair and sorted it out. I think bullying will always be a problem but it seems that most schools way of dealing with it is to tell the victims to stay out of the bullies way.

Here is some innformation that I found on this subject. Very Interesting topic! This information below is from this link and there is more on the subject. My children did experience bullies. There were always some in every grade level. Bullying in Schools. ERIC Digest. Bullying in schools is a worldwide problem that can have negative consequences for the general school climate and for the right of students to learn in a safe environment without fear. Bullying can also have negative lifelong consequences--both for students who bully and for their victims. Although much of the formal research on bullying has taken place in the Scandinavian countries, Great Britain, and Japan, the problems associated with bullying have been noted and discussed wherever formal schooling environments exist. Bullying is comprised of direct behaviors such as teasing, taunting, threatening, hitting, and stealing that are initiated by one or more students against a victim. In addition to direct attacks, bullying may also be more indirect by causing a student to be socially isolated through intentional exclusion. While boys typically engage in direct bullying methods, girls who bully are more apt to utilize these more subtle indirect strategies, such as spreading rumors and enforcing social isolation (Ahmad & Smith, 1994; Smith & Sharp, 1994). Whether the bullying is direct or indirect, the key component of bullying is that the physical or psychological intimidation occurs repeatedly over time to create an ongoing pattern of harassment and abuse (Batsche & Knoff, 1994; Olweus, 1993). http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-4/bullying.htm

My son was bullied, but he also stood up to bullies, in 1st grade he actually got suspended from school for stepping in an fighting 2 4th graders for trying to stop them from picking on a younger child. There were some really bad bullies on his bus, one of them actually popped the emergency door of his bus and throw out a kids backpack resulting in a major accident, since a car driver thought it was a child that came flying out of the bus. I think they sort of take it seriously but they don't try to prevent it, they wait until there are problems. That is too bad what happened to you back in the 80's...the 80's lord you are young. I think there will always be some bullies..I Think it is because they are 'bullied' at home.

Hi ya wolfie34 Yes it does still go on but I don't think it is as bad as it used to when like yu say it was swept under the carpet most definately. I think my sons have had very little problems at school because I know which children are prone to be domineering and tell them to keep away from those kids which they do. My friend has a teenage daughter who was having a few problems at school with some bullies and my friend kept her daughter off school and spoke to the teacher and told her to get it sorted or else she wouldn't be going back until it was sorted!! I don't think I would have done that but I would have demanded they get it sorted and not keep my kids off school.

I think bullying at School, is worse now than when I attended. Everyday my daughters come home with complaints. I think it is more talked about and dealt with, but I just think Children have no fear or respect. My daughter came out of School last term with around thirty kids behind her. She jumped into my car and a big, butch girl came right up to my window and defied me. My daughter burst out crying. I asked her what had happened and she said she did not agree with a friend in School, so she got olders kids to come after School to beat her up. Thank God I picked her up that day. I got out of my car and was laughed, jeered and abused from these kids, some of whom I knew, I drove into School and reported it. They where shocked. The headmasters, thankfully walked me out to the car, and there, where a crowd on kids hanging around my car. The headmaster wanted to phone the police, but I said no. I just wanted to get my daughter out of there. The girl was suspended the next day and the others banned of the premises. I think teachers have a real tough job today. It is thankfuly dealt with and not swept under the carpet. Sorry about your bullying experience when you attended School. I would love to meat all those bullies at my School when I was young. I would just stare at them.

My children haven't personally dealt with bullying but have come to the defense of others. I do believe bullying may be even more prevalent now than it was even in the 80s because I think people sometimes tend to believe it doesn't happen anymore. I guess you could say we are all in denial at times. Because of this I do believe it may occur more and be overlooked more, depending on the school, the students and the faculty.

Being a school teacher I think it has gone from bad to worse. At our school we had introduced a bullying warden. Students could go and consult with this teacher and seek help. It worked with most cases. The few severe cases had to be referred to higher authorities.

I think that we are luckier while growing up because bullying isn't 'in' in our school here. If it was the same as in other countries, I guess, i would be one of those who got bullied. However, I noticed that some students have started being a bully nowadays in my daughter's school. My 6-year old daughter who is in 1st grade was beaten by here male classmate a few months back. I had immediately called the teacher's attention and the parents of the boy and set a meeting with them. I had them warned by the guidance councilor too that they have to ensure that their son wont maliciously hurt another child or he might get expelled. I would never tolerate such kind of acts and any teacher who turns a blind would rue the day that I am one of the parents of their students because i would not rest until they are corrected because that is just unacceptable from where I come from.

I was often bullied by other classmates when I was in school. When I think of it today, sometimes I think it doesn't make a sense. As the ones who bullied me were shorter and probably weaker than me. It was strange that I always gave in at that time. I think it's from my nature. I don't want to hurt anybody. I always think if I want to beat anybody, others may feel very hurtful. I will never do so. I think it's hard to avoid being bullied even until now. There are always bad and good people in the world. My son is in kindergarten today. And sometimes I know he is also bullied by other children. He's just like me. Have a good physical body but won't use it to bully others. I love China

Hi wolfie, Although I have no one attending school now I believe that bullying is still a big problem, and if anything getting worse. However, it is not covered up as much as it was at one time, at least in the part of Canada where I live. There is no doubt but that the problem lies with the parents who are not spending enough quality time with their children, or who have lost all control over their child. Often these parents come from problem homes themselves and so the cycle continues. I feel bad for the children who are bullied, and hope that everyone involved work together for a solution. Blessings.

We live in canada and my child is in grade 3. She has a couple of bullies in her class but I have taught her to stand up for herself and they will basically leave you alone, and she has done pretty good. In our schools they have a zero tolerence on bulling but it still goes on. Unfortunetly now a days the teachers can only do so much, they send them to the principle who inturn calls the parents....Most parents of bullies are the underlining problem...the parents don't care what there kids are doing and sometimes are unaware of the problem. Even if they are contacted they assume it was the first time. I see it all the time at the school, and being a parent all I can do is yell at the child to stop and make the teacher aware of it....but they do not always see it and it goes un checked...thankfully for my child she brings it to my attention and I tell the teacher it will be stopped or I will contact the parents myself and my hubby will deal with them. My husband is 6 1 and 200 plus pounds...not someone to make mad. Soooo that is how we deal....some kids are not as lucky and still have to deal with these kids on a day to day basis....I don't think it will ever change.

I must say that there is still bulling in the schools. It still causes a lot of harm. There is so much pressure to fit in. My oldest is in the third grade. Last year I had to put her in counseling because she wanted to kill herself. She even had a plan. There were some boys who would hit her and throw balls at her in gym. They even told her she was fat. She only weighs 50 lbs. She stopped eating and was misrable. When this all came out, the principle told her that it was because boys really like her. To my knowledge, the kids were not punished. She did start to tell her teacher about it and we worked together. She was moved away from the student that was calling her names and hitting her and she was put into a different group in gym so he could not do anything to her. She has had a few issues this year. We put her in Taekwondo to boost her self esteme. Now some 5th graders are teasing her because she is in it and they want her to fight. I told her as long as they throw the first punch, she can defend herself. They do not do it that much but they swear and call her names. I wish I could take her to the bus stop but I have 2 other young children. I know it is not taken care of as it should be. IT really is sad. There are too many kids that this effects.

I have never been bullied at school at all. My daughter is in a daycare center and she has this classmate who's really bully. He bullies everyone and loves to make them cry. My daughter would fight back at him. LOL. She'd grab him by the collar and push him. My daughter kicks a$$. LOL

Hello, Wolfie! Here, we still have bullying. But it is not something like beating somebody and leaving them aching in the floor. It is something more like playing pranks, if you know what I mean. They go and pull your underwears up high until it rips itself off... Or they can just knock you down and do not allow you to get up... There are things like that. But nothing as seriously as beating somebody up. This happens too, but only when there is going to be a fight. I am sorry to hear about the bullying that was done on you. It must not have been easy to listen to all they said and be beaten at school. Here they also call names. That's pretty common, they are always one yelling at the others. They try to do it far from the teachers, but even when they see they do nothing. I guess they are afraid. Respectfully, Munhozmib.

I'm not really sure how thing are in comparison to the 70's and 80's, but I didn't really see much bullying at all. Sure there was the odd person who seemed to be the butt of all jokes, but that I don't think was really "bullying", they weren't traumatised or anything, and mainly just laughed it off. I wasn't bullied at school, so I may not have a perfect picture of the bullying that may go on, but then, New Zealand is very different from countries like America, and from what I've seen, the bullying that has occurred has been dealt with nicely (suspension/expulsion).

Hi Wolfie, I know what it's like to be bullied. It started for me when I went to secondary school. I have two older sisters and they were of an age whereby their interest in boys etc had started. I got to know a lot of their boyfriends and we all went to the same school (my sisters went to different schools though) although they were a lot older than me. As I used to talk to them at school and to a great extent hang around with them, it made some girls in my year really jealous, which in turn caused them to round on me. I was also involved in school activities such as plays, singing groups etc, which they also didn't like. They used to wait for me in the toilets, during break and lunch times and on the way home. It got to the point where I used to feign illnesses so I didn't have to go to school, or I would miss lessons by hanging around in the toilets after the lesson bell had gone or go to the medical room. I stuck it for as long as I could and at the end of the 3rd year I went home and told my mum that I would never go back to that school again. The standards of teaching and discipline were really poor at that time and I knew it was no good my telling anyone at school what was happening, as they wouldn't have done anything about it and I would have suffered even further. My parents were already looking to move to another area so I could go to a different school and they brought this forward so I was able to start my new school at the beginning of the new academic year. It had quite a profound affect on my confidence and I ended up having to have counselling. Not only that but I realised when I started my new school how far behind I was academically because of the poor teaching and the time I had missed at my previous school and found it really difficult to reach the required grades, but with a lot of hard work I left with sufficient qualifications to progress to the next level of my education. I don't think bullying will ever be eradicated and even if schools operate a zero tolerance on bullying inside schools, they will certainly not have any control of the bullies outside of school.

i dont know. i dont have kids.

Yes, bullying is still bad in schools. I think, at least here in our small town, they have stronger rules and are supposed to be better at watching and handling it. But bullies still find a way to get away with things. As a parent, it is a concern, although my son has been lucky and not had this done to excess. He also knows how to handle it and to say STOP and verbally turn nasty comments around. I wish teachers and principals would do a better job, but still feel that if the bully's parents are "well known in the community" it gets swept under the rug a lot more than others do. Sad but true.

I remenber there was once a time I ,a puipl, went to the public toilet to piss after class, as soon as I stand still before the urinal, a high school students come close to me quickly from behind to tighten my neck and ordered me give out my money if I don't want to taste his fist.I scare he would hurt me so I gave it to him,then he went away quickly. what I tell is just a little thing. I want to say there are still plenty of terrible issues happened in the school.