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Issues Surrounding Bullying In Schools

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Even before my child went to preschool I was concerned about issues surrounding bullying. My husband and I are gay and we had concerns around how our daughter might be affected by having same-sex parents. On top of that, we are a multiracial family; I am Filipino, my husband is white, and our daughter is a dark-skinned African-American. Adoption adds another layer to the politics of our family identity. When we walk onto a school campus we are not the heterosexist norm and are a very visible and different kind of family. Although we see ourselves exactly like any other family – trying to make it to school on time, making sure our daughter takes on her responsibility to get her homework folder into her backpack, organizing play dates, keeping …show more content…

Goleman (2005) has written about the need for students to have higher emotional intelligence. Cohen & Brooks (2014) have written about the needs of educators, parents, and community members confronting bullying. Cyber-bullying has increasingly become a problem in school communities as well (Shariff, 2009). Many schools focus on character development and/or have a set of values that are reinforced over and over again in their specific school community. For instance, Independent School of Long Beach has a set of values it promotes: Adaptability, Honesty, Kindness, Respect, and Responsibility. Besides the large amount of research dedicated to confronting bullying, there are many K-8 books that approach conflict resolution in age-appropriate ways as well. Alexis O’Neill’s (2002) Mean Jean The Recess Queen is a story for elementary students about a playground bully named Jean and a new girl named Katie Sue who befriends the bully and, thus, brings peace to the playground. Another example is James Howe’s (2003) The Misfits, which was written specifically for middle school students, and tells the story of a group of pre-teenagers who do not fit into the popular groups at school and decide to run for student council as a team with a platform of “No Name Calling!” These – and many other books for the K-8 audience - can begin to give children models of how to successfully help negotiate conflict in the school community. More, though, is

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