Schools should be a place our children can go to learn and feel safe. Society should be a place where we all feel safe.
But it is not. I’m not sure that enough is being done to deal with the problem. There are policies and discussions, and systems in place, yet bullying continues to escalate.
The attacks on those who seem vulnerable and different are done in order to take the focus off the perpetrator and their friends.
No one wants to be singled out and picked on, better to get in there first. Bullying is the exertion of one’s power over another in order to feel more powerful.
Therefore, the simple solution would be then to raise empowered children – those who are aware of their own power so they do not have to steal it from others.
It all comes down to self-love
It should be the priority for every parent to raise children who love themselves, those who have their cup full so love can spill over on to those who enter their path.
Our schools are not doing enough to combat bullying because they are trying to deal with the symptoms. Putting rules and systems in place that further imprison people. True liberation comes with self-love.
Teach our children to love themselves. Teach them to believe in their own goodness and the power they hold within them to live their best life and practice kindness.
To many this may sound so Utopian and unrealistic. Why do we think that? Why is it so difficult to think we can’t teach our children self-love? They are born not really knowing anything else. They come from love.
We love them to a depth that cannot be explained the minute they are born. We need to show our children they are beautiful and important, even when they mess up. They need to know they can make a difference, they can learn and grow, and when things go wrong for them they can turn to their own inner strength for guidance, they can turn to mentors and a source of higher power.
They don’t have to steal it from others
I try to spend every day building this foundation for my daughters. But, I know they are going to be met with people in their life who have no self-love and so don’t know how to show it to others.
I also know that my own daughters will mess up and hurt someone else. We have to teach our children how to handle the hurts and how to do better so they don’t negatively impact another person’s self esteem.
Bullying is not a one-off mistake; it is the consistent persecution of another. So, until my Utopian world exists, what can we do if our children are being bullied?