Melissa's Interview

For my interview I interviewed a family friend who is a second grade teacher. Since she has been a teacher for almost 25 years, she has dealt with incidents of bullying before. I sat down with her to ask her some questions regarding the topic and her thoughts.

Is this a problem that you think is important? Why/ Why not?

• I think that bullying is a huge problem these days. It has grown into an issue that is now ending in children taking their own lives to get away from the torture. With the growing of technology and social media people are able to bully and torment their peers anonymously. 

Do you think others in our community see this as an important problem?

• I can't imagine anyone not seeing this as an important problem. At our school, all teachers, faculty and staff realize that this is an issue and are constantly doing whatever we can to prevent this from happening. 

Have any of your students been bullied? If so, how was it handled?

• I have had many students that have been bullied. Many of the students were bullied were being bullied by other students in my classroom, so it was easier for me to handle. Fortunately or me, it never escalated into anything where the authorities had to get involved. It was resolved after mediation with the students and their parents.

Have you ever had any more serious incidents with bullying in your classroom?

• The most serious incident that I have had in my classroom is when a young girl with learning disabilities was being teased and left out by the girls in my classroom. It got to a point where she did not want to come to school. Again, it was never something where the authorities had to get involved, but we did have to have a mediation with the parents and students. 

How do you personally feel about bullying?

• I feel that it is something that needs to be stopped, but I'm not sure will ever be completely stopped. No matter what we do it is something that will always be around so we have to just try and control it. It has become so severe over the past couple of years and I can't believe how terrible it has gotten. As a teacher, I never thought that bullying would become so bad that hundreds of children are taking their lives because of it.

What do you teach your students about bullying?

• One of the very first things I teach my students is our no bullying policy. I consider my classroom like a family, and I explain to the kids that no one would treat their family members that way, so no one in the class is to treat each other that way. They learn that there are serious consequences for bullying, and it absolutely will not be tolerated. Our school also makes its no bullying policy very clear to the students.

What do you feel your school could do better about its bullying policy, if anything?

• Personally, I think our school does an amazing job making the bullying policy known to the students. There are bullying posters placed all over the school as well as quotes and poems about bullying. Our school has a great sense of community and I think that our kids understand how terrible bullying is and the horrible consequences.

Do you have any advice for future teachers on how to handle bullying in their classroom?

• Make sure you address the situation as soon as you hear about it. If you don't, you loose the students trust that approached you with the situation. Do not ever treat it as if it is not a big deal because then the students will not think that it is a big deal.

I really enjoyed interviewing my family friend. I thought it was great to talk to someone who is a teacher in elementary school and hear her thoughts on bullying. It was great to see that her school and everyone within does not treat bullying lightly. I thought it was great how her no bullying policy is introduced right away. I also loved how she compared her classroom to a family with her students. That way the students realize that they would never treat a family member that way, and their classroom is like their second family. I also thought the advice that she gave to future teachers was great.