Bullying

I definitely believe that in order to see any sort of change within the everyday practices of a bully, schools must use a less punishment-oriented perspective when addressing the issue. Nine times out of ten a bully has underlying emotional issues, whether they are personal or from the home life, etc., that are causing them to lash out. They may have not had a solid upbringing, therefore; do not even have the moral standards set in place to realize what they are doing is cruel. By punishing the bully/ kicking them out of the school it does nothing but prolong the issue. This person will continue to go through life with no guidance. Because of this, I believe that the best approach would be counseling ASAP. This way the bully can get to the core of their problems and in turn realize that they are the one who is hurting inside and have been taking the pain out on their peers. I have seen endless documentations on bullying and the amazing realization bullies have when they finally realize THEY are the problem. A forceful and punishment-oriented approach would be less effective than a loving and personal approach where a trained adult sits down week after week working to bring the underlying issues to the surface.