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Bullying at the preschool level
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I know it’s hard to imagine that children as young as three, four, and five years old as bullies or being bullied. But it does happen. If children ages 10 and 11 are committing suicide (as discussed this morning [July 9, 2009] on CNN) due to bullying; then that leaves the question, at what age does bullying begin? We want to believe that bullying usually occurs during middle school age when hormones are kicking in and the pressure to belong is great.
However, as a preschool teacher, I have seen peer pressure in preschool. I have also witnessed bullying. Bullying is described as being repeated actions used to intentionally hurt another. Some instances of bullying in preschool is incessant name calling; constant physical attacks (i.e. hitting, kicking, pushing) or threatening to harm another (i.e. a child who pounds his fist into an open palm as he stares fiercely at the other child); and excluding someone from the group. To combat the problem of bullying in schools, New Jersey adopted a law (in 2002) which requires school districts (such as Newark) to establish a policy banning bullying and includes consequences. Research shows that schools can slash bullying by 50% when incorporating a comprehensive bullying prevention program. Schools as a whole are definitely trying to do their part.
Consequently, it is going to be up to teachers and parents to drive the message home. It takes not only prevention programs at school but the teaching of tolerance, acceptance and cooperation from home as well. Parents and teachers play a huge part in young children’s lives and education. So imparting valuable lessons can impact children greatly. Some things a parent or teacher can do to decrease the likelihood of young children bullying are:
• Promote cooperation and caring.
• Talk with children about how someone would feel in certain situations.
• Role play situations to increase children’s understanding of the subject (use puppets).
• Monitor how young children are handling their anger and social conflicts.
• Encourage children to take a stand—for themselves and others. Provide the language if necessary.
• Present lessons centered on bullying as a theme—do this early in the school year and intermittently throughout.
• Have rules that incorporate respect for property; body; as well as personal space and the use of kind words.
Hopefully by intervening at the preschool level and the use of school-wide programs will help decrease bullying and lessen the chances of the loss of another young life.
For more info on bullying: Take a look at the following websites: http://drkennethshore.nprinc.com/ ; http://www.njea.org/page.aspx?a=4097
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