Bullying remains a vicious cycle in a civilized world

Bullying Awareness Week has come and gone but bullying remains throughout schools, in locker rooms, in the work place and at homes across Canada and around the globe.
This year’s Bullying Awareness Week was held Nov. 15-21 and its theme was, “Stand Up to Bullying.” Why then does bullying still continue to be prevalent in today’s society?
No matter how much parents, teachers and care givers preach about bullying — bullying continues to wreck havoc on the national and international psyche.
It’s not only other kids that are bullies at times — it’s also parents, teachers, leaders and society itself. So, how can kids learn from these supposed good role models?
Children are told to speak out and up against bullying but why then do many children get stifled when they do? Or, bullies don’t learn from their selfish acts? The debate continues — bullies are hiding behind their very own set of troubles, and that is true in many cases but knocking a kid to the ground, kicking that kid and calling him/her names isn’t an acceptable form of behaviour.
But sadly it continues in many schools and in other places across Canada and abroad. Even though we, as a civilized society, say we are trying our best to curb bullying. Tell that to the kid who was just kicked to the ground.
Canada talks about bullying non-stop and yes, many schools and organizations have programs in place to try to somewhat eliminate the issues associated with bullying. But, anti-bullying campaigns are useless if bullies continue to get away with their bad choices.
Many parents are sick and tired of bullies bullying and bullies not getting reprimanded for their stupid and senseless acts. Yes, kids will be kids, but kids also need to feel safe and protected from those who wish to be disrespectful and inappropriate. Let’s call bullies what they are — both young and old.
Parents need to teach their children how to be better humans. Parents need to teach themselves to be better humans, as well. Humans already live in a pretty messed up world. Turn on the news and see how the world is slowly slipping into something out of a Mad Max movie.
Kids don’t stand a chance, it seems, and they definitely don’t need the extra stress, the anxiety and pressures of going to school and being picked on or pushed around.
It’s great if you were a person who never got bullied and were one of the beautiful people growing up. Those who were the “ugly ducklings” or “geeks” were often treated poorly, without reason.
Bullying seems to be sewn into the fabric of today’s society. We can’t sugar coat it and say it doesn’t happen because it does continue to happen right under our noses.