Bullying in Schools

When asked to pick a hot topic for this blog the first thing that came to my mind was the controversial issue of bullying in schools. Though bullying isn't a new thing that we're just all a sudden hearing about, the issue of bullying in schools is. Over the past couple of months bullying has been a hot topic in the news. Reports on how young adults have taken their own lives due to being bullied in school. One of these stories you might be familiar with, is the story of 15 year old Phoebe Prince . The young girl took her own life by hanging her self because she was tormented at school by a group of fellow classmates. What is even more disturbing is that its reported that Phoebe told on her attacks to her guidance councilor and fellow teachers, and still the bullying continued, ending in the death of the young girl (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/TheLaw/teens-charged-bullying-mass-girl-kill/story?id=10231357)   I ask myself, since tragic stories like these have been popping up all over the news, what actions are being taken to prevent bullying in schools? After some research I found information on the Anti Bullying Act  http://www.wbur.org/2010/03/11/senate-bullying. The Massachusetts State Senate approved this bill after the incident with Phoebe Prince. The bill states that bullying will not be criminialized but it will be prohibited in schools, along with cyber bullying. Cyber bullying includes bullying through text messages, emails, social networks, etc. This bill also required every school to come up with a bullying prevention and intervention plan. Another idea of the bullying act, perhaps one of the more important ideas of the bullying act is that the principal of the school is required to report any bullies to the police. Only if, he believes that the bully could face criminal charges for his or her actions. This is important to me because a teacher doesn't have the authority to arrest a student for bullying, but a police officer does. Reporting incidents to a police officer could more effectively help put an end to the bullying. I think the bullying act is a good idea and it was made with all the right intentions. Do i think its going to put an end to bullying? No not really, I believe it might help put an end to it while the kids are in school, but as soon as they go home they are free to cyber bully. Whats stopping them then? Theres no punishment for posting a nasty status about a fellow classmate. Unless face book invents a no bullying act and phone companies invent a no bullying act for text messages, then bullying is always going to be there no matter what. If bullying is to end I think it needs to be a group effort, not just schools but parents as well need to be more involved. Yes, bullying happens in school but a lot happens at home under the parents supervision.  Maybe if we all get involved then we can begin to get a hold on the issue of bullying.

Why People Choose to Teach

There are a million and one reasons why someone might decide to teach. Some reasons are a little bit more interesting than others. Ever since I was a little girl I knew I wanted to become a teacher when i got older. Back then my reasons for teaching were a little different then they are now. When I was little I wanted to teach because thats what most everyone did in my family. I also liked being in charge, and getting to set my own rules. Having summers off really appealed to me as well. But as i grew older my reasons for teaching began to change. I started to see how much I enjoyed helping people, and how much I enjoyed the satisfaction they felt when they finally understood the problem. I realized that I had a passion for teaching and how it was really something I loved to do. In fact, I wouldn't even mind teaching all year round! I discovered that teaching to me wasn't about being in charge and telling people what to do, but instead helping them and encouraging them to learn something new. When I researched other peoples reason to teach I got a lot of different feed back. I thought the best information I found was Rhonda Day's article Teachers Bring it All to Life at the website http://www.helium.com/items/633186-teachers-why-do-we-want-to-teach. She lists a bunch of different reasons why someone might decide to teach. One reason that really stood out to me was being able to take a complex idea or problem and turn into something simple. I really like this reason because one part of being a teacher is being able to simplify ideas for your students. Many children might not understand a problem one way, but being a teacher we are able to turn it around for them and help them see it in a new way. Once we see the child finally understand it it gives us a rewarding feeling. Another reason that i really like is when she talks about " A strong desire to give back to the community..." This is a great reason to me because theres no greater way to give back to your community then by lending a helping hand. And whats more helping then being able to give children from that community the gift of education.This articles really hit me though when Rhonda stated that "Teaching is a noble, enviable, and demanding occupation. It requires knowledge, patience, understanding, and a desire to help others." Knowledge, patience, and understanding to me are the three major qualities that someone who wants to teach must possess. I think if you have these three things then it really doesn't matter what reasons you have for teaching. If you have these three traits, it doesn't matter if you decided to teach because you want to give back to the community or because you just love children. No matter what reason you have you''ll automatically be successful at teaching because you have the knowledge, patience, and the understanding.