The first thing someone will tell you if you’re being bullied is to tell a teacher or some other adult. But what if a teacher witnesses the incident and does nothing to stop it?
Bullying has, and always will be, a problem in our lives. In high school, especially, it is something that’s nearly inevitable. That’s why LHS supplies us with a handful of people who are here to help whenever we’re dealing with a tough situation. As well as the counselors and social workers, our teachers are—or should be—there if we need them.
Recently, however, I’ve experienced situations first-hand where there has been noticeable bullying going on in the classroom while the teacher watched silently from the sidelines. I’m not saying that I believe teachers should intervene in every little disagreement that occurs. We are high schoolers who should be learning how to deal with our problems on our own. But when the name-calling and harassment becomes an everyday occurrence, that’s when it’s the teacher’s job to put a stop to it.
I have a class where some of the upperclassmen are constantly picking on the same freshmen every day. The bullies openly mock the other students by making fun of things they've said or the questions they've asked during class. I’m sure this isn’t an uncommon occurrence. I mean, I was a freshman just last year, so I realize that freshmen are eternally subject to being the butt of jokes in high school. But it bothers me when a teacher stands there and watches what is going on, doing nothing more than giving a disapproving look before continuing on with the lesson.
It doesn’t just stop with freshmen and name-calling, though. In the same class mentioned earlier, I’ve seen it as bad as physical harassment that occurs just a few desks back from a teacher’s podium. A student constantly gets rammed in the back by the desk behind him--on purpose--as well as getting things thrown at him. Sometimes the teacher will tell the bullies to stop, but in certain situations, that is just not good enough because the bullying continues on again the next day.
Students should feel safe at school, especially in their classrooms. If our teachers continue to take little action against the bullying, it will only grow into a bigger problem than it already is. When the harassment is continuous and blatantly obvious, it is the teacher’s job to step in and put an end to it. Because if the victim isn’t standing up to the bullying, and neither is the teacher, then who’s going to be the one to step forward and put a stop to it?