欺凌是CCHS的问题吗?

奥利维亚·威廉姆斯26岁

上图来源: pexels.com

“现实是, you never really know what is going on in someone’s life," observed a senior at 中央天主教高中 in a recent poll conducted regarding bullying at the school.

在美国， 五分之一的学生 are bullied between the ages of 12-18. Additionally,160,000 teenagers skip school because of one or multiple bullies. Most students deal with bullying at one time or another, and it affects many more people than we realize. 

I would like to make something very clear: Central Catholic works hard to make sure bullying is not an issue, 我很清楚这一点, 我们学校的环境很安全, 支持, 和善良的. However, the reality is that some people are still struggling. Hopefully this article helps someone struggling to feel safe enough to reach out and get help. 

In a recent poll of about 300 students from Central, the results were fascinating. Bullying is not as big of an issue at CCHS as it is nationwide, as 53.3% of students said they did not feel it was a problem here. 39.1% of students said they felt it was sometimes a problem here, and 7.6%的人表示肯定是. 

When asked if they had ever experienced bullying while attending Central, the majority of responses said no (90.8%). Although, when asked if they had ever witnessed bullying at CCHS, 32.3%的人说是的. 

My final question was if there was a bullying incident involving the respondent or a friend, would they tell a member of staff at CCHS? 76%的回答是肯定的. 

In order to learn more about how bullying is handled at Central Catholic, I interviewed Assistant Principals of Student Success, Mr. 穆雷和Mr. Sipsey. They were very informative and open about school policy and their desire to help students.

By the CCHS student handbook definition, bullying is “the repeated use by one or more students of a written, 口头, or electronic expression or a physical act or gesture or any combination thereof, 瞄准目标.”

“The word repeated is part of that definition of bullying,” said Mr. 穆雷. “If we can get in front of a situation early, we can stop it from being a repeated situation."

This is important to note because not every situation is considered bullying. However, all situations can escalate into bullying if not handled properly.. 

After discussing the topic of stopping bullying behavior before it goes too far, Mr. Sipsey emphasized how at the end of the day, people need to speak up when they have an issue. 

“We only can deal with what we know,他说, “And if we don’t know what’s happening, 我们无能为力.” 

Along with members of the CCHS staff, Mr. 西普西和先生. 穆雷 look out for students every day. They are here to help and here to make sure each student is safe. 

After finalizing my poll percentages, responses, and interviews, I came to two main conclusions: 

Firstly, 中央天主教高中 does not have a massive bullying issue.. 

As you can tell from the poll, the majority of students agree. On the other hand, the idea that CCHS is perfect isn’t false. 学生有时很刻薄, 就像在任何学校一样, and that isn’t an excuse for teenagers to harm others here. 

一位大三学生写道, “I feel it’s very overlooked and even normalized, I’ll never fail to defend myself if I’m bullied. But, it’ll just get ignored even if I tell someone.” This shows how a lot of people may feel if they are experiencing a bully, 他们的担忧将被忽视, 但是,. 西普西和先生. 穆雷 want students to know that they will NOT be ignored. 

The second conclusion I came to was that high school isn’t perfect. 如果是完美的, the poll would have come back with 100% of students  agreeing that there wasn’t even a  trace of bullying at 中央天主教高中 whatsoever. 

但事实并非如此. 事实是, 欺凌在这里是真实存在的, 孩子可能很刻薄, and sometimes advocating for yourself feels impossible. 

One take away from these findings is that this reality isn’t forever. 或者不必如此. If you or someone else has an issue with bullying, TELL somebody. The staff here can help, and you won’t be ignored.

So, thank you, you who have stuck with this article until its end. I want to emphasize for about the hundredth time, that you are NOT alone. If you have a problem with bullying, or you've seen someone being bullied, please tell somebody. 

记住, 事情会好起来的, 你会变得更强, and using your voice for the greater good is always worth it in the end.