How to Stop Bullying in Schools
Another bullying in schools incident recently occurred at a local elementary school. I need not rehearse and you the details because you’ve already heard it before. You probably read about it in your paper because it happened in your town or city. Sadly, these things are occurring with much greater frequency.
In the last few months a few students committed suicide because they were picked on for supposedly being “gay”. Some were mercilessly taunted and others publicly ridiculed on YouTube and Facebook. It has now become so easy to humiliate another in front of the whole world.
For the last 20 years or so there’s been a rash of high school and college campus shootings. Bullying in schools has taken a deadly form, far worse than in the past. For a variety of reasons someone was taking out their anger upon their fellow students and teachers. The name of “Columbine” will forever be etched in our memories as a totally misguided and useless act. There have even been shootings among fellow soldiers in army base camps by misguided souls who felt they were doing an inspired duty.
There have been so many studies and news reports trying to make people aware of the issue. Psychologists and pundits alike express their outrage and ideas for change. “People need to be more watchful, and careful, and aware of what’s going on around them” they say. All of this is true but it misses the heart of the issue.
Can bullying in schools be stopped?
Some claim the only way to get rid of such a thing is to make sure that all guns are removed from our society. History has shown dangerous consequences to such actions. The removal of all guns will only make them slaves to those who have them. Literally millions of people have been killed by such programs.
I submit to you that there is only one true way to reduce the frequency of such incidents. If this proposal were followed by 100% of the people in our country then I’m almost certain that all such incidents would be eliminated, but that’s not going to happen. Many people will outright reject the words I’m about to speak.
Setting the foundation for stopping bullying in schools
Our founding fathers who formed the background of our country and brought forth the inspired Constitution and Declaration of Independence, were all highly religious individuals. They knew what it was like to dwell in a country where they were persecuted for not following the state run religion. Religion and governmental power, combined, has been the cause of much of the worlds ills. They wanted to form a country free from such disastrous consequences.
But they did want total and complete religious freedom for the people of the country and therefore put it in the very first articles of the Constitution. There would be no government run religious organizations. Did that mean that they would eliminate all references to God and religion in the government? The answer was an unequivocal No! These highly educated individuals understood the need for continuing education combined with religious freedom.
Some people claim that there is a separation between “church and state” and for the most part that is true, but our founding fathers encourage religion to be taught in the schools. They opened with prayer. They had references to the Bible and God in daily discussions. To teach education without a foundation of a purpose for life and worship for the creator of the world, has resulted in the conditions of our day.
The pendulum has swung so far in the wrong direction that now many children grow up without ever hearing the name of God used in any manner other than cursing, swearing or foul language. With violent video games flying off the shelves far faster than profoundly simple and beautiful books about the Bible, is it any wonder why they resort to violence? That’s seemingly all they know.
The complete removal of any reference to God in our educational system has resulted in people believing that whatever they do is right. There is little value to life when humans are only viewed as targets to score points. The movies and music of our day portray the lowest and basest of human desires and actions with no reference to guilt or consequences of those actions.
The socialistic teachings of our educational system that has removed all references to God is the cause of these meaningless deaths, but few people are willing to stand up to the behemoth of our Department of Education system. Everything our founding fathers created, worked, fought and died for has been ruled as insignificant and meaningless in our modern age. The results speak for themselves.
I submit that the only way we will ever truly reduce the incidence of bullying in schools, shootings, suicides and acts of terrorism in our educational system today, is to put God, Jesus Christ back into our educational system. If there was nothing wrong in teaching the Bible in school classes 200 years ago, why is it wrong now? The fact is that it is the right thing to do. To deny God’s hand in the belief system and founding of our country is to purposely put on blinders as to historical reality.
There’ll never be peace in this world without allegiance to God. There will never be true happiness without him. There will never be true hope for the future without worshiping the Creator. There will never be true security or confidence without understanding who we are and our relationship to our Father in Heaven. There will continue to be bullying in schools as long as we leave our Creator out of the picture.
Our Father and Our God
Almost all the religions I know of teach the basic doctrine about treating your fellow man like you would want to be treated. They teach something about our relationship to God and the belief that there is something beyond this life that is dependent upon how we treat each other. They all teach some sort of hope that we can live together with God again after we die. Why not allow these teachings in our schools? When people have a proper respect for who they are, who their brothers and sisters are, and that we are all children of God, there will be no need to ridicule, bully or kill a member of your own family.
It is only by following the teachings, beliefs and actions of our founding fathers that we will be able to return to a country at peace, prosperity and confidence in today’s troubled world where our children may grow up in the society we truly desire.
How can we ask for God’s help with their schooling when we have removed Him from the classroom? Once we put Him back, only then can we truly eliminate bullying in schools.
Sadly, not all Americans are religious, spiritual, or even choose to be. We can thank the ACLU organization for being so staunch in supporting the atheists that started the "taking God out of our schools" campaign. There are those who claim to be Christians but do not practice as such. It reminds me of the quote, "Sitting in a church pew makes me no more of a Christian than standing in a garage makes me a car".
Where do we get our belief system? Mostly from the parents we emulate. In order to change our behaviors, we MUST change our belief systems. We must educate ourselves. A lack of knowledge promotes ignorance and enforces fear. We then act and react from a base of fear, that which we do not know or understand.
Yes, it is imperative that we not remain "Sunday Christians" only, but that we make God a MAJOR part of our every day, our every waking hour. In addition, we must educate our youth, creating programs across the country to educate and lead them, involving the parents in that process. A child is easily intimidated by authority figures, and often, immitate in order to win favor with a parent, adapting that parents views and behaviors. If we can educate the parents, we would have a better chance of guiding that child to be the most productive, loving and empathetic adult he can be.
Perhaps experts in the mental health field could incorporate a screening system in elementary schools to determine if certain children are prone to bullying BEFORE it grows into a major problem later. Parents need to be parents, teach with discipline and not be afraid to punish when necessary. A lot of people do not know the difference between discipline and punishment. We cannot guide our children if they see us as equals, as "friends". We have a legal and moral responsibility to BE a parent to the children entrusted in our care.
Holli,
Thanks for your thoughts. You are so right about the ACLU and its stand against anything that smacks of discipline, God, conservatism or just plain common sense. And your advice to parents is something they all need to read. Glad to hear from you.
Kelly
My 9yr old is constantly coming home from school and telling us about the movies and video games the other kids his age see and play from his school. Why would any parent allow their 9 year old kids to see the Scream and Safehouse movies and play Call of Duty and other "M" rated video games? Why?
People bemoan the violence that happens in schools, the teen age pregnancies, the rapes and immoral behavior of kids and then think its OK to allow their own children to do these things.
How can we continue to watch this decline in society and not say something about it?
Well, I am trying to change the world and speaking up. Will you? Can you do your part and not allow your own children to see these types of movies? Can you say something when someone takes a kid to a movie that they shouldn't see?
Kids need to be kids and not grow up too quickly. Its best they remain as innocent as long as they can as they will grow up quick enough.
"Train up a child…"
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