Award winning author Lea Schizas on Bullying

Lea is my guest today. Her book Bubba and Giganto: Odds Against Us deals with bullying and how it can make bad situations worse, even deadly, if the bullying isn't prevented. I asked Lea to write an article about bullying to tie into her book. Hopefully, we will reach folks who feel that they have been bullied at some time or another and put an end to this cruelty.


LEA ON BULLYING:
Bullying is an act that needs to be observed closely by parents and by school administrators. It’s not a subject to be taken lightly because bullying in elementary school is a bit of name calling, light pushing, and shunning friends. Once in their teens, bullying becomes aggressive: stealing money from students, use of weapons, ambushing victims and beating them to a pulp. As adults, their aggressive manner can escalate to more serious crimes.

When you sit down and think that if someone intervened a child who would push, call names while in elementary school, you would be giving them a chance to see life from a different and peaceful perspective.

Have we all become blind to our surroundings? Do we not see children hitting and punching each other as we drive/walk by school grounds? Would it take that much of our time to go into the school, notify the person in charge/or look for teacher supervisors on the school grounds and inform them a child is being hurt? Are administrators afraid of the children? Of the parents?

My kids experienced light bullying (if there is such a thing) while in elementary school and I wanted to write a story where kids can relate not only to the victim (Giganto), but to the bully(Jason) as well. There is always a reason for a bully’s actions but it is how everyone deals with those emotions I am showing my readers.

Here in Montreal, schools are trying to combat bullying by in-school suspensions, expelling the students, after school detentions, bringing in the parents to talk to them, and other ways. It’s never too late to talk to a child about the consequences and dangers of bullying but this lesson should begin from an early age.

Tired, worked long hours, need to prepare supper, I’ll take a quick nap – all excuses I’ve used in the past and know others have, too. Yet, our children were not asked to be born, we gave them the gift of life and as parents we need to continue mentoring them until the day we believe we’ve done all that we can.


For more ordering, contact the publisher or you can go to amazon.com. I believe Lea also has a teacher's guide available; for more information, contact Lea via email at museitupeditor@yahoo.ca.