The new school year here in St. Kitts and Nevis is about to begin. Many children will be starting preschool, kindergarten, primary and high school for the very first time while many others fall in the category of school leavers either ready for the world of work or pursue higher education at post-secondary college or university level.
For those new school students and those continuing on their academic journey through primary and secondary schools, more than ensuring that these children have all the necessities for learning-uniform-shoes, books, bags etc.-parents and guidance and all others alike and involve in the upbringing of children-please speak or continue to speak to your children about not bullying others. The Oxford Dictionary’s definition for bullying is ‘seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable).’ And, lo and behold an example of the word used in a sentence is: “her 11year-old son has been constantly bullied at school” Quite interested, right?
This is a serious life subject. All across the globe school bullying is a major issue, and of course here in the Caribbean region and zooming in closer to home, we all need to recognize that this is no laughing matter. In the context of the Caribbean, we have a saying that ‘All Joke Ain’t No Joke’.
And in the context of bullying, we have to be quite mindful that mocking people and making fun of them might seem ‘haha’ funny to you but for those at the receiving end of such verbal assault, many carry hurt over the years which
affects how the view life and go about life. Sad thing about it is that some choose self-harm to escape their painful reality. It is a troubling issue like school bullying which makes the saying ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can do no harm’ null and void.
You see the reality is, although there are some children excited about the new school year some are quite terrified. Even in the instance of those school leavers, just think about the reality that some were likely bullied while on the flip side some were even bullies themselves.
More people need to speak out about this problem. Mental health wellness is a global topic. Every child deserves to have a peace of mind; not stressed out about others bullying them. We of this this newspaper are encouraging everyone to do their part in preventing and addressing school bullying.
Here are two serious questions to ponder on while urging you to take on this social responsibility. How would it make you feel if you find out that there is a child scared to go back to school because he or she is being bullied?
Secondly, how would you feel if that child was your son, daughter, cousin, grandchild, neighbour, godchild, niece, nephew or a friend’s grandchild child? No doubt that the second question would be best to get your emotional response on this matter because naturally we would not want to see our loved ones harmed, and the good this about us who are on the good side of the humanity is that we treat the well-being of children in general as everybody’s business.
To those professionals who are trusted to deal with bullying reports, please always address it with the seriousness deserved. Let us all pay attention to the children around us and check in on the mental well-being relating to any current or potential mistreatment of abuse that could be affecting them.
The bottom line is that together, we can help them. The future of the world depends on how we protect and nurture our children. Our publication calls upon us a society to help stomp out bullying from our schools.
