Bullying is escalating every day! Atalay Girgin: These children are not born as bullies

Although we occasionally see cases of bullying by students against their teachers and classmates on social media, the invisible part of the iceberg continues to be experienced in schools every day. So, what measures should the Ministry of National Education and school administrations take regarding this? Educator and author Atalay Girgin evaluated his views on the subject for 12punto.com.tr.

“THESE CHILDREN ARE NOT BORN AS BULLIES”

There is, of course, no single formula for what can be done regarding the attitudes and behaviors of students who show disrespect and bully both their teachers and other students. When answering this, it is possible to just pass the buck to the Ministry of National Education (MEB) and school administrations. But that would be both an oversimplification and a way to throw a veil over the problem, turning them into scapegoats... Because, as is known by everyone, these children are not born as people who disrespect and bully others. In the process after birth, starting with their parents and their immediate environment, they are influenced by the films and series they watch on television, what they see on social media, what happens in the social environment in both a narrow and broad sense, and the people they choose as role models. Among the people they are influenced by are, of course, the civil servant 'teachers', and every interaction, every person taken as a role model, leaves traces on children or students that cause positive or negative behaviors. Especially traces that manifest themselves primarily during adolescence. That is, in the final years of primary school and high school years...

“THE DIMENSIONS OF AGGRESSION AND BULLYING ARE INCREASING EVERY YEAR”

Although there are individual psychological, socio-economic, and cultural reasons for this, the dimensions of aggression and bullying that turn into disrespect and violence against teachers inside or outside the school are increasing every year. Such behaviors are observed more frequently, especially in schools and neighborhoods where poor, unemployed families with low income and cultural levels, who receive the lowest share of income distribution, live. At the same time, both drug use and drug dealing are common in schools and among students in these areas... Of course, considering that the age of drug use has dropped to primary school students, it is unthinkable that the events and conflicts related to this would not be reflected in the school, in student-teacher relations, and in relations between students.

Despite all this, there is both a lot and nothing that school administrations and teachers can do about preventing such problems and dealing with students who exhibit aggression that amounts to disrespect and violence toward teachers and who act like bullies toward other students. Although there seems to be a contradiction here, what is experienced points to the exact opposite. Because some school administrations use the powers they have so carefully and diligently that disrespect toward teachers, let alone aggressive behavior, either does not happen or is suppressed before it even emerges. This is achieved on the basis of administration-teacher-family cooperation and solidarity throughout the school, and by preventing the interference of various small and large power centers outside the school in what is happening inside.

“SOME SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, INSTEAD OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM, DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE AS IF ENCOURAGING IT”

Some school administrations, despite having the same powers and responsibilities, drag their feet and try to manage the situation. Instead of solving the problem, preventing disrespectful, aggressive, and violent behavior toward teachers and students, or punishing those who do it, they do the exact opposite as if encouraging it. For example; this example I will share was experienced exactly in a school where I worked. If they read this, all parties will think that we are “talking about them.”

Here is that incident: One morning, in the very first lesson of the day, in one of the classrooms, a teacher who is, in the true sense of the word, mild-mannered is beaten by a student or a group of students who are his accomplices. The teacher leaves the classroom with his hands, face, hair, and clothes in disarray and goes to the floor where the school administration is located to file a complaint. Instead of doing what is necessary regarding the teacher's complaint, the school administrators direct the student who first carried out the attack: And they say, “Go to the district national education directorate. File a complaint against him before you go to Mr. H...!”

Of course, there is a reason for them doing this. Because that student and those around him are among the leaders of student groups that administrators use within the school to manage the school, get their work done, and who are connected to some power centers outside.

“ANYTHING BEYOND THIS IS JUST EMPTY TALK”

As can be understood from these two examples, a school does not consist only of school administrations. Likewise, not only of teachers... In fact, it does not even consist of the sum of all of them, including parents and students. Outside, there is a huge society, a huge world that surrounds the school and those inside it. Especially if that society, and all the social institutions and organizations of that society, from its legislature to its judiciary and executive, from its politics to its economy and religion, are struggling in the swamp of social disintegration, cultural decay, degeneration, and furthermore, social, political-ideological, class, sexual, religious, and ethnic oppression, violence, and exploitation, then which school, which school administration, which ‘teacher’, which student, which child, which young person, which woman or man, etc., can remain free from the filth of this swamp, and for how long and how... That is why the solution is the total removal of this social wreckage and the drying up of the swamp it has created in all institutions and organizations, including education. Anything beyond this is just empty talk now...

News Source: Kübra Karasu