Courtney Da Silva-- Taking Action

Petition 

50206 – Courtney, 22, Massachusetts

– The End Of Bullying Begins With Me

             When we were asked to take action on our topic, I immediately began researching different options. The more I looked into taking action, I came across incredibly devastating stories of children that have been brutally bullied and taken their lives. It pains me to read about the thousands of children that are bullied everyday, and many of these children are not receiving the attention they need! There are numerous ways to contribute to this issue, but I initially chose this petition. I want it to be clear that I am fighting towards the end of bullying and being number 50206, I feel as though I am headed in the right direction.  With the additional research that I have done, I am most definitely looking into continuing my action against bullying. I am looking into signing up for walks and getting involved where ever possible. 

             As educators, I think that it is crucial to be aware of what is gong on in our classrooms at all times whether it be in a school classroom, an after school program, a dance class, or practicing sports. It is up to us to keep these children safe and teach them that bullying is not an option! There are far too many cases of bullying across the nation and we must start with ourselves in order to prevent more cases from arising. 

            I strongly believe that it begins with the teaching of social justice issues whether it be from an educator in a classroom or from parents at home. It is a sticky issue when it comes to teaching social justice issues in the classroom, but as a democratic nation it is important that these children learn how to become the best citizens that they can be. We as teachers are responsible for modeling the behavior and actions of responsible and productive citizens in our communities. 

            

“Struggle for social justice is central to our nation’s history…“Concerns about the common good and the rights of the individual, no matter how humble in social standing, transcends politics and holds a definitive place in the realms of morality, ethics and federal law, and therefore in the world of teaching social studies”

               It is important to take a look at the previous quote and understand that it is merely up to us to make a difference, and create the change that we both want and need to see. We cannot expect our nation to suddenly change and become a better place with out putting in the effort to make that shift. The change and understanding of a united and supportive nation begins with all of us. This leads me to the discussion of my interest and experience in researching this topic.  I believed that I was well aware of the issues that stem from bullying when I first entered this assignment, but now through intense study and readings, I can truthfully state that this issue is far more devastating that I originally imagined. It was an eye opener to view the statistics and cases that are connected to this large topic of bullying. I is however extremely uplifting to know that there are people and organizations out there doing all that they can to take a stand against bullying. There are easily attainable resources for any person to contact and reach out to. There is endless research and information for children, parents/guardians, and teachers to read and use to make a difference for our own children and the rest of the children that are out there that will some day need our help as well. 

            Again, I am very lucky to have chosen a topic that interested me to this extent. It was an incredible way to introduce us to current events and how to utilize them in our teachings. There is so much going on in our world today, that it is important to introduce current events to our students. It will teach them how to stay on top of current topics that may not affect their lives right now but most certainly will in their future. They will be able to learn to form their own opinions and stand up for what they believe in. To say the least, teaching through currents events opens up a variety of options for students to learn through. They will be introduced to discussions, debates, and most importantly being able to talk through problems and create solutions. 

I hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog and will too take a stand against bullying. Take a minute and contribute to this petition to make a difference. 

http://www.pacer.org/bullying/digitalpetition/

Julie Koivisto--Taking Action

As an RA last year, I was required to program for my residence in fun and creative ways with the requirement of having some educational or empowering message behind them. When it comes to bullying, I have always had strong feelings about advocating for those who have been bullied. Two of my programs last year revolved around bullying. One program was called Put a POP to Bullying! I had students blow up a balloon and write hurtful words around the balloon. As the group held their balloons, I gave a presentation on bullying and how it can affect children in a school setting. Once I finished my presentation, I asked each person to pop their balloon to symbolize that they would become an advocate towards bully prevention. The other program was a month long program that promoted the campaign Spread the Word to End the Word. I created a bulletin board revolving around statistics about people who are affected by the R-word on a daily basis, and also included steps on how to pledge online. To go with this bulletin board, I had a program where I sat in front of the front desk of Marsh Hall with my laptop and a huge piece of paper and encouraged every student that walked through the door to pledge online. I had a total of 52 people pledge within 2 hours.

Even though this blog is about bullying, I still believe that pledging for this campaign still relates because the use of the word "retard" can be considered bullying. Many people can be offended by the word and take it to a point where it can be considered hurtful. After pledging over a year ago, I have been receiving emails about the campaign frequently, and I must say I do not regret pledging at all. I think it is a fantastic cause, because it really made me think about how some things that I say may offend someone even though I really don't mean to be offensive. This website reflects democratic values by displaying stories told by different people who have been affected by this issue. The website is welcoming and displays its information in a positive way; in other words, its not very 'in your face', it allows you to develop your own opinion.

As an educator, I think it is extremely important to teach about social justice issues. Instead of drilling basic facts into a student while they are at school, I think it is necessary to help students develop their own views on social justice issues. I feel as if students are somewhat blinded to what is going on in the real world, and if a teacher opens the door a little bit to expose students to different issues, it will benefit the student in the long run by helping them find ways to take a stance on an issue they are passionate about.

http://www.r-word.org/

"Struggle for social justice is central to our nation's history..."Concerns about the common good and the rights of the individual, no matter how humble in social standing, transcends politics and holds a definitive place in the realms of morality, ethics and federal law, and therefore in the world of teaching social studies"

--After reading this quote, I believe that teaching social justice in social studies may be the only place a person will be able to develop their own ideas about the world. 

I am really excited to be given this opportunity to blog about bullying. I have always been interested in this topic, and because of this blog I have been able to give this social justice issue a finer look. I believe that bullying is an issue in our society because more and more people are affected by it every day, and it can often become lethal. Some people may say that bullying is taken too seriously, and that freedom of speech can play a huge role in the situation. Even though I am a firm believer in freedom of speech, I do believe that everyone should respect each other's differences, because everyone is different in their own way. Teaching current events in the classroom is definitely important because it will expose students to what is happening outside of their small communities. 

Courtney Da Silva

 Erica, Student in Social Work program

1. Is this a problem that you think is important ?

"Yes I think bullying is a huge problem and is only growing now that technology is so accessible to everyone. Cyber bullying is a terrible issue that derives specifically from the easy access that children gain to the Internet.

I think with growing media attention focused on the effects that bullying can have and all the suicides occurring from bullying, I believe that people are starting to take note of it and are beginning to understand the detrimental effects it has on kids lives. Ten years ago however, I don't think that it was taken seriously. And now with the technological advances it has only progressed and become serious issues rather than innocent kid chatter."

2. How do you feel as though you could play a role in ending bullying?

"I don't know if I could have a role in stopping it because I feel as though people are ruthless and will always find a way to hurt someone else and bring them down.

 But I feel as though as someone that wants to work with kids I will encounter 

many that will have encountered a situation where they have been bullied. I hope to be able to help them in dealing with that and hopefully people will be able to learn about the damaging affects of bullying."

3. As a social worker do you learn about the affects of bullying?

"I would consider it to fall under emotional abuse where it could be taunting and harassment which in the long run leads to emotional turmoil and self esteem issues which can be extremely damaging to a persons life."

Julie Koivisto-Interview

In order to gain another perspective on the topic of bullying, I interviewed one of my mentors on the subject. Edye Levin, a soon to be graduate of the Master’s Program of Higher Education in Student Affairs, shared her thoughts about bullying with me. When I introduced the topic to Edye, I could tell that she had a passion for this subject. She was very excited to answer my questions about her view on bullying.

                                       Edye Levin-HESA Grad Student at Salem State University

I first asked Edye if she thinks that bullying is an important problem in our society today. Edye responded by agreeing with it being a problem, and also said that those who are affected by this problem tend to grow up self-conscious and worried about who they are developing into. I then asked Edye her thoughts on whether the community thinks of bullying as an important issue. She responded by saying, “Yes, but what do they do to change it, and what can you do? There are movies that you can show to talk about bullying, but do these movies really get students thinking about the effects of bulling on a student? I think more can be done to help prevent this problem.”  I asked Edye a third and final question, asking if she knew of any policies set by the government that deal with bullying. Edye was hesitant to answer this question, she was unsure if there were any set laws that talk about bullying in schools. I proceeded to tell Edye about how it is a mandated law in Massachusetts to teach bullying prevention in schools, as well as for teachers to report any activity that occurs in any type school that follows the detailed description of what bullying is.

After this interview, I have come to realize that bullying is definitely a hot topic to talk about. There is awareness of what bullying is, but the approach is something that is not taken seriously. Due to the fact that Edye wasn’t aware of any policy regarding bullying shows that this law is not expressed enough. If it was publicized more, different prevention methods of bullying could be formed because more people would be aware of this issue.  All in all, I feel as if bullying is a topic that is known, and even though there are organizations in our society that are created to prevent bullying, not enough people are proactive when it comes to empowering students to prevent bullying in their classroom.

Why is it critical to learn about bullying?

The topic of bullying is important to discuss in classrooms today because of the major effects it can have on a classroom environment. When students are educated about the harm that bullying can cause to a student who is a victim, students can feel empowered to stand up against someone who is targeting a student who feels helpless in a particular situation.

Bullying can be thought of as a broad topic with the big idea of one person using verbal or physical violence towards another student. To begin teaching this topic, a teacher can ask their students what they think bullying is in order to gain a general perspective of a student’s background knowledge on the topic. Once the general idea is produced, a teacher can then break bullying down into several different concepts; concepts like physical bullying, emotional bullying, and cyberbullying. Using specific facts from each of these concepts that make up bullying, a teacher can empower their students to be able to recognize any act of bullying that may occur, as well as giving them strategies on how to act against the type of bullying.

To teach our readers about the topic of bullying and all that it entails, we will be breaking up the big idea into smaller concepts that demonstrate the different types of bullying, how they can be used, where they can be found, and how a certain type of bullying can affect a student. Our readers will walk away from this blog with information of how to prevent bullying of any type in their classroom. 

Welcome!

Hello Readers,
We are very excited to introduce ourselves as well as our purpose for this blog. We are Elementary Education curriculum block students at Salem State University. Over the course of this semester in our Social Studies course, we will discussing the colossal issues stemming from bullying in schools across the nation. Here is a bit of information on our bloggers:

Hi everyone! My name is Julie Koivisto, and I am a senior at Salem State University studying elementary education and sociology. Throughout my four years at Salem State, I have been involved in a number of different organizations on campus, ranging from Student Involvement and Activities and Residence Life, to Retention Services and tutoring at the MTEL Preparation Center. With all of my extracurricular activities and classes, I have learned a lot about how people view others in society, and why people may react to situations in certain ways. The topic of bullying has always come up in each of my classes, and it has always sparked an interest with me. With this blog, I hope that I will be able to relay any information pertaining to bullying that will help viewers understand the affects it has on our society. Thanks for viewing!

Hi! My name is Courtney DaSilva, I am currently a senior at Salem State University. I am an Elementary Education and Dance major. During my time at Salem State, I have been actively involved with children from the ages of four to eighteen through teaching dance. In my studio alone, bullying has not been a large factor however, through hours spent watching the news and becoming involved in school settings and classrooms, I have truly begun to see the tragic amounts of bullying in our society. Over the course of this semester, I encourage you to stay connected with our blog in order to educate yourselves and spread the information on the importance of demolishing bullying across our nation!

Megan-

We hope our blog is an inspiration towards your individual strives to STOP BULLYING!