The Realm of Sean

I’ve been away from the blog for a while now, mostly because I’ve been busy with school and work. But I saw a video today that compelled me to come and do a brief write-up.

I was quickly viewing Reddit while at school eating lunch in the library when I clicked on a link to a Youtube video. I wasn’t prepared to, but ended up watching 12 minutes of a Texas city councilman speak out against bullying, specifically against gay teens.

There has been a lot of media attention lately surrounding the suicides of gay teens across the United States. One of the reasons I consider myself lucky to live in Canada is because we are, overall, a rather moderate country. Despite there being some opponents to gay marriage, hatred against the gay community is not accepted in the mainstream. Even the Conservatives have candidates who support gay marriage, and I doubt there are any who would preach the rhetoric that is prominent in some parts of the United States.

I want to focus this not only on the bullying of gays, but bullying in general; and how I feel many of the teachers and administrators of our schools are letting us down and failing to protect the children. 

I’ve been through the school system and have experienced the incompetence of school administrators and the unwillingness of school teachers to act. Luckily, this hadn’t been something that I experienced too often since moving to Nova Scotia. The principal of the school, as well as vice principals were individuals who I felt would deal with situations that were of concern if brought to their attention. There are always some teachers who you can tell who will not go out of their way to help those being bullied. Some will give a sort of slap on the wrist and will leave it at that. It’s hard to tell if they simply don’t care, or if they don’t have enough control of their classroom in order to prevent bullying.

In situations where bullying is happening in the classroom, it is the duty of the teacher to punish those bullying and protect the victim. These teachers are, after-all, supposed to be the trusted adults. But in the situations where the teachers prove to be ineffectual, where are the victims to turn? By simply telling the bully to apologize, or to give back what they took will only lead to taunts once the teacher walks away.

But what is the teacher to do? Should they put the bully in the corner? Should they just say to themselves, “It’s just a normal part of growing up”? Think that, “If I involve myself, it will only become worse”? Or maybe, “He’s a smart kid, he can take care of himself”.

No, what teachers are meant to do is be the adult, differentiate to all the difference between right and wrong, and be not only a good role model, but be the light that victims can go to and rest assured that they’ll be taken care of.

To the many teachers I’ve had who have been that light, and the many more who are, I thank you. To those who do not do this, who choose instead to take the easy way out and tarnish, dirty, and defile the profession of teachers, I cast shame upon you. As there are teachers who do this. This rash of teen suicides in the U.S. acts as evidence.