To the Editor:
Why does it take a tragedy to get us to realize that bullying is an unacceptable behaviour? Bullying is by no means a new concept. Bullies have been roaming the earth for a very long time and will probably continue to do so. Unless, of course, we (those of us who don’t condone such behaviours) stand up and do something about it!
So far in my lifetime I have seen fathers bully wives and children, parents bully children, employers bully employees.
Professionals bully their clients and of course, children bullying other children.
Is this what we are raising our children to do? To be bullies? Just because it is all around us doesn’t give any one of these the right to jump on the bully bandwagon! Bullying is not an acceptable form of behaviour and should be treated as such.
As we wait for Christy Clark’s anti-bullying program to be put into our schools, should we not be doing something for our children now? Why wait? Bullying is going on now and it is now that we should be doing something about it.
Yes, in my opinion bullying is happening right now at our school. SESS is not any different than schools all across Canada where bullying is problematic. The difference is that SESS is our school and our children’s school and it appears that it is up to us (those of us who want bullying to stop) to do something about it.
Will it take another tragedy to get us to wake up and realize it is our responsibility to raise our children to be considerate, respectful, caring and empathetic and not a bully? I for one will be doing all I can to ensure my children grow up void of bullying behaviours - will you do the same?
Linda Deschamps, Keremeos