Big Bad Bullies

There is a movie coming out fairly soon about bullying in our schools. I've seen the preview (above), read the articles, and even noticed it in my own school. When my school turned 115 years old my brother asked people from every decade, who were still alive, to share experiences they had from school. One man shared an experience about being bullied because he had new glasses on. As he told the story the memories came flooding back to him and he started to get emotional. It's amazing that an experience like that, which happened more than 50 years ago, could still have such an impact on this man.
Bullying is a part of our culture whether you like it, or not. I don't like it, but I did enjoy Roger Klautz from "DOUG." It's amazing how many major characters in television and movies are bullies. What would "Back to the Future" be without Biff? So, as I sit back and reflect on what I can do in my own class to stop this act, a few individuals come into my mind. One student I had last year had all the makings of a kid who should've been bullied. All he did was read the entire day, wear glasses, and he also had some peculiar mannerisms. By all intensive purposes he should've been bullied, but the kids actually liked him. Even though people would say things that he could've taken as hurtful, he decided to not care about it and just take it as a compliment. Soon enough, the kids admired his ability to read a large quantity of books in such a short amount of time. He took something that could've have been looked down upon and made it a strength that kids wished they had. Kind of like Rudolph the Red-Nosed-Reindeer I suppose.

Now fast forward to this year. I have a student who has been beaten up in the past and has moved schools for that same reason. As he's adjusted to my classroom this year, I've had a hard time making sure kids don't laugh at him. My class has been learning rap songs all year and this student doesn't quite know all of the words yet. He is trying really hard to fit in with the class by singing louder to overcompensate for his lack of word memorization. This, in turn, makes it even more awkward. He draws attention to himself and he doesn't realize that what he's doing is a little weird. I can see it, the students can definitely see it, but he can't. I've tried talking to him about it, but this problem keeps occurring. I'm not saying being loud is a problem, or THE problem, but it gives certain kids something to attach to and make fun of. I don't see this problem ever going away for this student. I'm mostly concerned for his transition into middle school and high school where he will spend a lot more time in the halls and locker rooms where bullies seem to form and gain power.

My point in this is that some kids will always be the victim. I can only do so much and the administrators can only do so much. We are there to create a safe learning environment at school, but in this day and age where problems follow kids pass the bus stop and onto the internet, I ask the question; How far is our reach supposed to stretch? Teachers are constantly being given new things to discuss with their classes because they aren't getting the message at home. How responsible are we in the end?