believe in blue forever Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 School hires full-time bodyguard for bullied student 17/04/2012 3:55:00 PMby Sameer Vasta Bullying can be a big problem in a school, but hiring bodyguards for bullied students will only serve to isolate them even more, not protect them. There's no question that bullying in our schools is a problem that must be addressed. Bullying can lead to isolation, stigmatization, and a feeling among students that their differences make them inferior instead of special. But how to deal with the problem of bullying? One school in New Brunswick is trying something new: hiring a full-time bodyguard for a bullied student. A seventh-grade student at the L'École Samuel-de-Champlain in Saint John was being bullied, punched, kicked, and taunted at the school because he was gay and overweight. When the bullying got to a point where it was affecting the student's well-being, the school assigned a full-time staff member to accompany the child throughout the day and help diffuse any potential bullying situations. I'm not sure that this is the best strategy. Bullying results in isolation and stigmatization — forcing a student to be accompanied by a bodyguard all day doesn't stop that, but instead makes it worse. A student that has a full-time aide following them around will feel like their differences make them inferior and that they require special care because of those differences, instead of embracing their diversity. Bullies won't be deterred by a staff member. They may not act out with physical violence if they are in the presence of that staff member, but that will not stop them from being verbally abusive and to antagonize the student. In fact, it may make it even worse. What other anti-bullying programs has the school instituted? If the bullying got to this level of severity, are there not other issues that the school needs to figure out? While bullying may be part of the schoolyard experience, if it is negatively affecting the well-being of students, there seems to be a larger, systemic concern at play. I hope I am proven wrong and that the full-time staffer ends up providing necessary solace for the bullied student. But I also hope that the school looks long and hard at the way it conducts discipline and works hard at making sure it creates an environment where this kind of behavior is not just discouraged, but unwelcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhinogator Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 That's not going to help at all. Not the bullis will just keep their distance and throw verbal assaults instead. The poor kid has just been turned into an even bigger laughing stock, not to mention this went on the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brahma Bull Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 What about when the kid leaves the school at the end of the day? Really sad that it would even have to come to this. At least it shows they care in some regard, but if this school has to resort to this then they have bigger problems. Deal with the bullies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magikal Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 This is one of the worst possible ways to deal with the problem. Might as well have his mom come and watch him 24/7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect From Now On Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 this is a terrible sollution put the often spoken, but rarely used "zero tolerance" mentality into use. Suspend students who are caught bullying the student and if they re offend expel them. It wont take more than a handful of students to be subject to this before the kids realize the school means business and turn their attention to cyber bullying instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Romo Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Kick the bullies out. It's that simple,make am example with one of them and everyone will stop. Maybe start with a suspension but if they are still bullying there out of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Brown Burrows Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 How does that help? This is only going to make the issue worse. - Kid needs to stand up for himself, only way that he's going to survive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etsen3 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I agree that the bodyguard will only makes things worse. The school should discipline the bullies instead, if they keep doing it kick them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tru_Knyte Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InSoM- Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Society is so lame nowadays, lmao. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamero89 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Umm everyone gets made fun of in high school. As terrible as this sounds, you just have to deal with it. ALL physical bullying should be zero tolerance though. Verbal abuse will happen, but all physical abuse should be treated as assault. Unfortunately too many schools keep giving these bullies chance after chance, after chance, and not realizing how much they are affecting other students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiCHC3 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Kudos for trying something different. Realistically, high school is an awkward phase for pretty much anyone and socially, there's generally a "go with the flow" or "shut up" sort of message in there. I don't believe having a bodyguard during this phase in his life will cause as many problems as people are making it out to be. High school, while a good chunk of your life, is kind of a write off in terms of character development. Whereas your early 20's are typically the most pivotal point in terms of developing a unique identity (scientifically, self esteem rises significantly here as does experimentation). With that said, the bullies should be severely punished on top of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truculence Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Sawyer is physically disabled, as a result of a brutal bullying incident at age 12 that followed many other bullying incidents in school—he reached out to administrators for help early on, and got none. Today, 6 years after the sucker punch that permanently changed his body, Sawyer received some justice. A $4.2 million settlement with the school district governing the middle school where the attack took place. His family also reached a private settlement with the attacker's family. That money won't erase the physical challenges. It won't undo the suffering he has endured. It won't make the countless surgeries he's gone through, and may yet again, go away. It won't ensure that the kid who bullied him doesn't harm someone again (the bully received only a few day's suspension after the attack). But as someone who is now personally aware of how much it costs to need ongoing medical care in America, I think it's great that medical bills will at least be less of a problem in his life, even if not fully covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denguin Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Extremely stupid. He'll just be the laughing stalk of the entire country now. As someone who has indeed been the bully to someone before, I can safely say that simply getting parents involved has a BIG influence on putting the thing to a stop. Seventh grade is the age where not everyone really sees what is right/wrong, and they're more concerned with fitting in and being "cool". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllHailSmyl Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 If the bodyguard was a MMA champion and was training the kid after school to become fit and to fight, and built his confidence up so he could kick some bully ass, then this could work! Otherwise a pretty dumb solution, as his bodyguard won't be there to help him in the real world when he has to leave school/graduate. Oh well, there's always mom's basement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish⑦Canuck Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Umm everyone gets made fun of in high school. As terrible as this sounds, you just have to deal with it. ALL physical bullying should be zero tolerance though. Verbal abuse will happen, but all physical abuse should be treated as assault. Unfortunately too many schools keep giving these bullies chance after chance, after chance, and not realizing how much they are affecting other students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Romo Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Schools discipline system is as bad as the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Umm everyone gets made fun of in high school. As terrible as this sounds, you just have to deal with it. ALL physical bullying should be zero tolerance though. Verbal abuse will happen, but all physical abuse should be treated as assault. Unfortunately too many schools keep giving these bullies chance after chance, after chance, and not realizing how much they are affecting other students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.A Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I don't think appointing a bodyguard is going to help resolve this issue. It will just lead to further marginalization and isolation of the kid.. can you imagine trying to have a "normal" social life, with an adult hovering?? You often hear about schools that don't do enough to stop the bullying, even when the victims try reaching out for help. I think school boards should adopt and enforce a zero tolerance policy. Detention for the first offence, suspension for the second offence, and expulsion for the third offence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostViking Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Seems like a bad idea, I can't imagine how having a staff member follow you around everywhere will make you less isolated. I agree that a zero tolerance policy should be instated for physical abuse by bullies, but I am really not sure how to handle the verbal abuses. There are cases where it is literally almost an entire school against just a few, and it really is hard to punish every kid for bullying. Plus most verbal abuses are not done in an adult's presence. If a bully wanted to mess with someone, they can just tell the teachers that they were being verbally harassed, under a strict anti-bullying policy the bullies would have the power to have anyone they don't like thrown out of school. Since it is often a group ganging up on an individual, it would be easy for bullies to rely on strength in numbers, if a whole class decides to say that the weird kid they don't like is verbally abusive, will the school be able to uniformly ignore 30 kids cries for help under a strict anti-bullying policy? If its a matter of the popular kid's word against the unpopular kid's word, I think we can assume who is the bully, but what about when it is 30 kid's word against one? I think we need to somehow infuse compassion at an earlier age, most people grow out of bullying, but not before damage can be done to their victims. I'm just not sure how to do that really, as it does seem like a legitimate part of the aging process, its just the damage caused makes it hard to tolerate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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