SAfer Schools

​I know it's so easy (and understandable!) to be mad when bullying happens; To be mad at the principal, or the teacher, or the parents, or the kid... But, can I, just for a second, place another option in your mind: ⁠
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Maybe, we deal with bullying so badly because society is lacking conflict management skills.⁠
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Imagine if: ⁠
- the principal felt confident that they had an answer. ⁠
- the teacher felt like they had all the tools to handle every behaviour in their classroom. ⁠
- the parent had all the wisdom to handle their kid with aggressive behaviour.⁠
- the child or teen bullying knew how to regulate their emotions and feelings and handle their pain.⁠
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Now think about how conversations might go when bullying did occur from a place of confidence. I can imagine everyone would feel much calmer. There would be more listening, more collaboration, and cooler heads.⁠
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I know that this isn't a popular thought, but it's one we need to start pondering.⁠
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It could be that ONE answer is to help students, teachers, administrators and parents handle conflict better.⁠
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If we made this a priority, I believe we'd start to move the needle towards much safer schools for everyone.⁠