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“Bullying can destroy childrens’ lives. It can lead to depression, severe anxiety, academic failure or suicide,” said Lt. Col. John Leckie, 86th Medical Operations Squadron, a child psychologist and chief of pediatric behavioral medicine.
“Bullying can physically or emotionally impact a child’s life,” said Maria Buchwald, Ramstein Middle School principal. “True bullying is very destructive and hard to detect, which is why we need to be looking for any warning signs of someone being bullied.”
“Children don’t always let adults know what is going on by talking,” said Leckie. “Adults should pay attention to their behaviors and overall school and social functioning. Any negative change in these areas can give adults insight into what a child is experiencing.”
Warning signs of a child being bullied include: damaged, missing, or lost personal belongings, unexplained cuts, bruises, or scratches on their body, behavior problems at home, having little to no interest in school or after-school activities that they normally enjoy, low interest in school work and being afraid to walk or ride to and from school. “In an initial case of bullying being reported, we need to be swift and take firm action to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” said Buchwald. There are several things parents and adults can do to help prevent and respond to bullying.
“When parents and school staffs implement anti-bullying programs that are consistently applied, then children will benefit from a safer, more secure environment, as free as possible from bullying,” said Leckie.
“If you discover that your child is being hurt by other children, resist the temptation to offer advice first; instead, do your best job of listening and being empathetic to the emotions your child is experiencing. Advice, such as ‘just ignore them’ is often ineffective.”
There are also ways children can respond and stop bullying before it becomes a problem. They can be kind to the one being bullied or talk to them after a bullying incident and hang out with them so they don’t feel alone. Children can also tell parents, teachers or administrators if they see any bullying going on.
“Teachers, parents and administrators should create a social norm that bullying is not OK through repeated messages, lessons and examples,” said Leckie. “We should also work to create norms that it’s OK to tell a teacher about bullying, that adults will respond quickly to it and that kids will know what bullying is, to be able to call it out, and comfort those being hurt.”
Bullying has become a concern in the community and is something that is being addressed by KMC leadership. With the signing of an anti-bullying proclamation by Dr. Dell McMullen, Kaiserslautern school district superintendent, Brig. Gen. C.K. Hyde, 86th Airlift Wing commander and Brig. Gen. Aundre F. Piggee, 21st Theater Sustainment Command commander, the KMC is taking steps in the right direction to put a stop to bullying.
The proclamation encourages everyone to take a stand against bullying, because it is something that has a negative impact on the learning environment and morale of schools and the community.
The anti-bullying proclamation states:
1. Work together to ensure our schools are a safe, caring and a welcoming place for all students.
2. Take prompt and proper action to address all allegations of bullying, whether such bullying takes place on school grounds, on our military installations, in our community or in cyberspace.
3. Ensure full and open communication among all parties concerning any allegations of bullying regardless of location.
4. Embrace and adopt DoDEA’s “Stop Bulling Now! Take a Stand. Lend a Hand,” program designed to address bullying and provide resources to parents, teachers, students, administrators and community members to use in the anti-bullying campaigns.
“It is important that we catch the bullying behavior at an early stage and redirect that behavior before it becomes a major issue,” said Buchwald. “The more school staff, parents, coaches and all who care for children actively promote kindness, tolerance and empathy, the less bullying will occur,” said Leckie.
