Bullying Is a Social Justice Issue
By David Sheridan October 28, 2011 12:11 pm
We are now hearing reports that Hispanic schoolchildren in Alabama face bullying in the wake of that state’s anti-immigrant law.
A 12-year girl who is a citizen and whose father is from Puerto Rico is called a “damn Mexican” by another student during a school bus ride. Another student is called “a stupid Mexican” by a classmate and told to “go back to Mexico.” After a playground basketball game, the winning side, all comprised of Hispanic 7th graders, is told by the non-Hispanic losers: “You shouldn’t be winning—you should go back to Mexico.”
Such reports are sad but predictable. After Arizona passed an anti-immigrant law in 2010 we heard similar reports of Hispanic students being bullied in that state. And after 9-11, the bullying of Muslim students increased markedly across the country.
In times of distress, whether from a terrorist attack or a painful economic recession, some people will look to blame other people. It’s called scapegoating—the practice of singling out a group of people for unmerited negative treatment or blame. During the Middle Ages in Europe, for example, Jews were blamed for everything from crop failures to the bubonic plague.
For some U.S.-born people, Hispanic immigrants are scapegoats. They look different, they sound different, plus they’re increasingly visible as their numbers multiply. Alabama’s anti-immigrant law blames illegal immigrants for “causing economic hardship and lawlessness in this state.” But there is no evidence whatsoever to support this charge.
There are a variety reasons a student is bullied. But in our ever more diverse society, race and ethnicity rank among the major reasons a student is bullied. Asian and Pacific Islander students are bullied because of who they are and how they look. So are American Indian and Alaska Native students as well as Black and Hispanic students.
Children soak up the racial anger and resentment they hear in the home and community, and they bring those raw emotions into our schools where educators must deal with them.
Talk about a teachable moment. Talk about an opportunity to reach out to students who come from a different culture than ours and show them we care. Talk about an opportunity to prepare our students for a diverse and interdependent world.
When we as educators help a child who is being bullied because of his or her racial/ethnic background, or when we instruct a bully in the value and necessity of treating others with respect, we are putting our core values of equal opportunity and a just society to work. We are quite literally laying the groundwork for a better America.
Racism is a poison and there is no more powerful antidote for it than America’s public school educators. This was true in 1900 when foreign-born people comprised 40 percent of the U.S. population, and it is true today, when the foreign born account for 13 percent of the population. Just as educators back then created learning environments in which immigrant children could learn, so too do we when we work to prevent bullying.
The life lessons we impart to our students about how to get along and work with others are as important as the academic subjects we teach—and will long outlive us.
David Sheridan is a former soccer coach who is now a senior writer in the National Education Association’s department of Human and Civil Rights.
- Comments
- 2
Cynkara in Oregon - Saturday, October 29th, 2011 09:29 am GMT -4
My 2nd grade white nephew was going to a school made up of mostly Latino students. They picked on him mercilessly. I believe it was bullying but have no inside knowledge. His parents contacted the school but were not satisfied with the results. They tried to move him to a different school but the transfer was denied. They’ve decided to home school.
waterproof camera - Sunday, November 27th, 2011 02:19 am GMT -4
i know that sometimes the teacher even scared of the student that do bullying in a school, and pretend there is nothing happen, this is really bad, usually bullying issue is about the senior and junior matter, sometime bullying even can cause death.