By Carol Sewell
A CBS news story last week regarding a recent study by the University of North Texas caught my attention as it addressed the surprising study results. Common thinking is that when you teach kids not to bully, giving them examples of what constitutes bullying, that the incidence of bullying will drop. What this study found was just the opposite. Hmm.
If you think about it, the results of this study are not really that surprising. As the news story pointed out, these programs (much like the prison experience that many times is nothing more than a training ground for criminals) are actually giving creative ideas on how to bully more effectively. Therefore, students come away with a greater ability to bully online and on social media.
If being a bully is learned and not a natural behavior, the question we should ask is where is all this bad behavior originating? Some might say it is modeled by parents in the home. Others might say it is learned from video games, television and movies. It could be all of these combined. I would suggest these activities usually originate by example from those who have authority over us.
This top down activity comes from the federal government and all of its intrusive agencies and regulations. They are the biggest bullies around as we have just witnessed with the recent government slow down (shut down), where certain elected officials have set out to make the public miserable by withholding select services until they get what they want.
Consider the state, county and city governments, who also can function in the bully mode. Most recently, local school administrations have been caught bullying parents and teachers alike. And we wonder why our children are victims of bullies or doing the bullying. They are surrounded by adults who use and abuse their power over the parents who pay the taxes that support the government schools. We all know that children observe everything and then go and do what they have observed.
It is time that we take responsibility for setting an example that says just because you or I are bigger, smarter, or have more authority/money/influence we cannot run over other people. The bottom line is we are now reaping the results of decades of a value neutral educational system. The current system has replaced the foundational American values of absolute right and wrong and treating others as you want to be treated with values neutral situational ethics.
What we are missing here is the good old-fashioned value of respect. Respect for each other, respect for self, respect for private property, respect for our elders, and respect for those with differences because we are all individuals and uniquely made. Without a return to respecting others rights and freedoms (right to exist, right to speak and be heard, right to freely live according to our faith, and the right to provide for our families including educational choices), we will never be rid of the bullies among us.
Carol Sewell is the author of “We the People: Know the Past, Understand the Present, Secure the Future <http://g2g.org/home> ”, with foreword by David Barton.
