In my experience, self esteem has been a struggle for me. It was not an academic issue becuase i felt very competent in my academics, which means i had a great self-concept of myself. However, my environment was not particularly a nice one. I was kinda bullied in school and at home as well. I developed later as a child but my maturity and cognitive skills developed before anyone in my class. I had a hard time. It maded me recluse and fall back into myself whichin itself was bad becuase of my self-esteem. In the end i turned out ok but it made me more empathetic towards things like bullying and self-esteem. I wanted to pose a question....Is being sympathetic to bullying students a good or bad thing? Does it set that student apart? Does the student want that help if the help does not help? What would the best approach to dealing with bullying?
(ok thats 3 questions but all the same)
In regards to your question, I think it all depends on the student and type of bullying that is taking place. If it is violent, you need to step in at once. However, the verbal stuff is where it gets complicated.
ReplyDeleteAs teacher I would say we should be sympathetic to bullying while being careful not to single any student out. Address the class as a whole and do not single that individual out or anyone for that matter.
As for the rest of your questions, I think it will really depend on the relationship you have with that student. If it is a good relationship than I think the student will be more accepting of help and visa-versa.
I would say the best way to deal with bullying is to acknowledge it, prevent it when you can, and offer help and support without singling students out to the students who are being bullied but let them decide if they want to accept that help and support or not.