Saturday, January 29, 2005
MASH - Mothers Against School Hazing
MASH - Mothers Against School Hazing have some suggested rules for schools. I like the idea of this organization, but I'm not sure they get the point.
They suggest more supervision of students. They advise coaches to develop a map of their locker rooms so they can make sure an adult is always near. They say you should stagger the age groups allowed to mix together and not allow students to hang around lockers longer than needed and keep them locked when not in use.
While all of these seem to be good suggestions, wouldn't it be simpler to teach the children that such behavior is wrong and show them the proper way to act?
Shouldn't we support our kids so they know they can report horrible behavior and the offenders will not be able to bring retribution when we simply slap them on the hand and send them back into the wild to punish those who got them into trouble?
Can't we start now to teach the younger kids that bullying is wrong and some of the many different and more constructive ways to cope with our emotional problems? Bullies are made and they can be unmade, if we just try. They don't really know any better.
More cameras, more supervision, more rules and less places for kids to gather are not the answer. America says we have "family values", but if we just treat all our kids like criminals after we teach a few to act that way, can we really make such a grand claim about our entire society's morality?
I think not. Teach your kids to treat each other with respect and to notify adults when they don't. Teach them to tell you when adults ignore them or do nothing about the behavior and take it upon yourself to make sure something is done.
We can beat hazing and bullies, but we all need to work together and watching everything the kids do like hawks is not going to solve the problem.
They suggest more supervision of students. They advise coaches to develop a map of their locker rooms so they can make sure an adult is always near. They say you should stagger the age groups allowed to mix together and not allow students to hang around lockers longer than needed and keep them locked when not in use.
While all of these seem to be good suggestions, wouldn't it be simpler to teach the children that such behavior is wrong and show them the proper way to act?
Shouldn't we support our kids so they know they can report horrible behavior and the offenders will not be able to bring retribution when we simply slap them on the hand and send them back into the wild to punish those who got them into trouble?
Can't we start now to teach the younger kids that bullying is wrong and some of the many different and more constructive ways to cope with our emotional problems? Bullies are made and they can be unmade, if we just try. They don't really know any better.
More cameras, more supervision, more rules and less places for kids to gather are not the answer. America says we have "family values", but if we just treat all our kids like criminals after we teach a few to act that way, can we really make such a grand claim about our entire society's morality?
I think not. Teach your kids to treat each other with respect and to notify adults when they don't. Teach them to tell you when adults ignore them or do nothing about the behavior and take it upon yourself to make sure something is done.
We can beat hazing and bullies, but we all need to work together and watching everything the kids do like hawks is not going to solve the problem.
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