In August, as one of 75 participants at President Obama’s first Federal Anti-Bullying Summit, I heard about many programs. Almost all were developed by adults such as myself who had expertise of some kind in working with youth. However, the most impressive presentations were those by a handful of students who had taken the initiative to develop and implement their own programs.
First, why not take a closer look at what the Guardian Angels program has been able to accomplish in reducing aggression, not only in this country but around the world? Initially started in New York City as the vision of one young man, this nonprofit organization now operates worldwide and has even started an Internet safety program. The adult powers-that-be in 1979 felt sure a group of volunteers on patrol would never succeed in curtailing subway violence, but they were wrong. Surely a version of this program could be developed at the high school level or lower.
Finally, if we’re going to be anti-bullying, we need to be pro-something.
As adults, this is a good message for us to learn. We have created a culture for our youth that sexualizes aggression (think “The Bachelor” or “America’s Next Top Model”), finds cruelty humorous (download the latest app that allows you to rate a person’s “ugliness” or tune into “American Idol”) and devotes a large portion of its resources to violence, i.e. war.
Why would the next generation believe we can teach them how to end bullying?
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