| This is the letter to the editor that recieved several interesting responses and got me a chance to speak with the Governer's Prevention Partnership. The article I was responding to is no longer on the web, so you'll have to take my word for it - this writer is a real jerk. |
| Stop Bullies By Boosting Self-Worth Hartford Courant, August 29, 2001 Laurence D. Cohen may be right to question the efficiency of federal anti-bullying programs in his August 26 Other Opinion column, �Anti Bullying programs: Who�s Shaking Down Whom.� But Cohen is out of touch with the pressing importance of creating safe and supportive schools for all students. Students who are isolated, harassed, and bullied carry lasting scars and are deprived of their right to a safe education. Throughout middle school, my peers tormented me. Teachers and counselors suggested I ignore the taunting and change my behavior and activities to make friends. I continued to believe that everything classmates said was true: There was something wrong with me. The people assigned to help me rarely bothered to suggest otherwise. The teachers who turned my life around affirmed my right to read on the bus, score high on tests, and wear clothes that weren�t trendy. I regained my self-worth through their friendship, although the harassment never stopped. Administrators who care about ending bullying and increasing tolerance for all differences can emphasize individual attention and work to ensure that no student feels left out or worthless. Caring for each and every student is the only real anti-bullying initiative. Maybe Cohen prefers for the government to spend his money punishing former bullies who have graduated to assault and battery, but I�d rather have my taxes go toward stemming the tides of aggression, prejudice and hostility before more damage occurs. |