Recently, in Chicago, there has been huge discomfort on the topic of bullying in schools. A Chicago mom says her 6-year-old son has been bullied many times at Bronzeville Classical Elementary School. The most recent incident left him bruised and in pain, so the school had to send her son to the hospital to receive help for his injuries. The mom has reported the bullying to the school many times before the incident, but she feels like not enough has changed.
She believes that this incident could have been easily prevented if the principal and school officials had taken charge of the bullying when she informed them of what was happening, but since the principal never took action on the conflict between the students, it led to the issue of her son being severely injured. She’s upset because the school won’t show her the video of what happened, saying it can’t be shared because of privacy rules. Even though he has been hurt, her son still says he loves his school, which makes the situation even harder for the family. The boy’s doctor hasn’t cleared him to return yet, while the family decides what to do next.
From this situation, I can strongly argue that bullying doesn’t only affect individuals, but it also affects the whole school and even the wider Chicago community. When students are afraid, they participate less, trust each other less, feel less connected to school, and a huge issue could also be when students decide to stay silent on bullying, which could make the bullying worse. Chicago already works hard to reduce violence in neighborhoods, so allowing bullying in schools goes against the city’s efforts to promote safety, respect, and unity. A school that tolerates bullying is teaching the wrong lesson, especially since the mom tried to constantly reach out for help for her child by telling school officials that she was failed by the school’s safety measures to protect her son.
