The new school year brings children and parents not only joys, but also various sorrows. For some, these are bad school grades, for some – problems with the schedule, and for some, alas, one of the main and most common issues of modern schools – bullying.

Recently, more and more attention has been paid to this problem, and we are increasingly revealing the scale of it. To tell the truth, bullying has existed for all time; the attitude towards it has simply changed. If somewhere in the middle of the 20th century it was perceived as an integral element of the so-called socialization process, now schools are actively fighting this. But the problem still remains.

Matthew Beard, a father of three from London, had to deal with it after his son’s first days in high school. The father told about this situation on Twitter, collecting more than 600 reactions in just a few hours and provoking an active discussion of the problem of school bullying among parents and educators.

More info: Twitter

The Original Poster saw his son’s hand covered with hand-drawn pen marks after two days at high school

Image credits: Alex Starr

So, when Matthew’s son returned from school one day, his dad noticed strange marks made with a pen on his hand. Matthew asked what it was, and the boy said that he himself decided to leave a mark every time he was bullied, both physically and verbally, by other students.

Image credits: mattbeard02

Image credits: mattbeard02

The marks meant that the OP’s son was bullied, physically or verbally, 21 times over two days at school

In just two days, 21 marks were accumulated on the child’s hand, and this shocked Matthew so much that he decided to share his outrage online. In the second tweet, the man stated that he feels the photo is powerful and that he thinks schools need to come down harder on bullies, while their parents should be fined.

Image credits: LilyAgg8

Image credits: pedrogarcialoca

Matthew thinks that too many parents simply don’t know what’s going on with their kids in schools and expect them to be safe, but that’s unfortunately not the case. Some people, alas, believe that everything will resolve itself.

Image credits: markaxon

Image credits: jioeyy

Image credits: alanrussell80

According to statistical data, around 20% of students in recent years reported being bullied

Of course, this is not true. According to statistics compiled by the National Center for Educational Statistics, in recent years, about 20.2% of students report being bullied. Thus, the issue of countering bullying should be addressed at all pedagogical levels. For example, it is very important to develop a sense of mutual connection in students of all ages.

Image credits: algbonnie

Image credits: Pippa35

Image credits: AndyK_LivNews

“It’s all about connection,” says associated professor Nancy Beardall, who created and implemented a bullying prevention curriculum in Newton Public Schools, in her interview for Lesley University’s website. “When students feel connected to their peers, their school, and their community, they do better.”

Image credits: Jon_Chalk1

Image credits: lcampbell10

Image credits: MaggieA62

People in the comments massively supported the OP and his son, and suggested various ways to counter school bullying as well

We must say that most of the commenters supported the father in his desire to raise the issue of school bullying. In particular, Matthew was praised for having already jumped the first biggest hurdle, which many don’t. Twitter users hope that the school administration will respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Image credits: Kingwolf84

Image credits: tracybnbell

Image credits: _iamreaper

Image credits: waynetuckwell

Image credits: karenbeardy

However, some users advised Matthew to simply teach his son to fight back. Based on their own experience, they said that they were also bullied at school, and only by learning how to fight did they manage to overcome it. On the other hand, responding to violence with violence is not a completely civilized approach, and the fight against bullying in the education system should be as comprehensive as possible, affecting both children and parents.

Image credits: danielefiok1

Image credits: DannyF83246063

Image credits: Danvill1

Image credits: TonyFarmer13

You can always tell us your opinion about this situation in the comments to this post, and if you have your own idea on how to counter bullying in schools, please let us know about it.

Games

View all games

Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing!

Follow Bored Panda on Google News!

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!