What All The News & New Movies About Bullying Really Mean…

Earlier this week, nine teens were charged with crimes in relation to the suicide of Phoebe Prince, a 15 year-old Irish immigrant.

Phoebe was bullied so much, both offline and online, that she was driven into a deep depression and took her own life.  She reported the bullying to the school.  She told her parents.  Her parents reported the bullying to the school; even a couple of Phoebe's friends reported the bullying to the school.

Nothing changed.  The bullying continued.

What is really disgusting about this situation is even after her death, she was still being bullied online – by people who knew she was dead!

Locally and nationally,  this is still a big story.  Now, the state of Massachusetts is working on legislation in regards to bullying.  On top of that, coming this summer is the remake of the Karate Kid movie, originally starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita, which will now star Will & Jada Smith's son, Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.

What message are all these news reports and movies about bullying really sending?

What you and I  – and the school systems – are taught about bullying prevention and dealing with bullies does not work.  If it did, we wouldn't have kids killing themselves.

Think about it:  when did you hear when you were growing up that someone was bullied so badly that they killed themselves?  Did you ever?  Granted, with the twenty-four hour news cycle and the Internet, stories go national at light speed, so there what happens in Topeka gets heard in Boynton Beach, Florida.

I get that – it just doesn't change the fact that bullying is now more invasive and more intense than ever.  Parents, largely due to the fear of lawsuits, their child getting into trouble and by what they were taught as children, are teaching their children the same old, tired and ineffective methods for preventing and dealing with a bully.

School systems – hamstrung by rules that have been written as the result of lawsuits brought by parents of bullies – coddle, baby, ignore or tolerate bullying with lip service, like "Anti-Bullying" campaigns and more.  I have a friend that is a counselor in a public school system that I won't name that told me flat-out that there are entire sections of the school policy book that were written after the school was sued because counselors and teachers intervened in a bullying case, and the parents of the bully sued the school.

Now, there is a laundry list of things he as a counselor cannot do or say when it comes to bullying.  And, what he is allowed to say or do is politically correct – which means it is worthless.

Like much of what is going on in the political environment, it is time for people to wake up.  What you are being taught about bullying prevention and how to handle bullies is dead wrong and doesn't work.

It is time to Take Back Your Power.  Stop listening and following the same old tired, ineffective information that didn't work thirty years ago when it was taught and doesn't work now.  It's time to stop turning outward for the answers and solutions and start to turn inward.  You and your child have the strength, courage and wisdom to handle anything, if you will face your fear and do what you know is the right thing – even if it is scary, unpopular or not politically correct.

A great place to start is with my first course, "How to Bully Proof Your Child".  Here I tell you what school administrators and the politically correct will never tell you about how to prevent being bullied or what to do once you are the target of a bully.

I am a parent, too.  I was the victim of a bully.  I know what it is like to carry the emotional scars from doing everything you were taught about being bullied, turning the other cheek, walking away, ignoring the bully – and having none of it work.  I still remember the shame, anger and frustration of feeling weak and worthless.  It stays with you for life, until you have the courage to face it and deal with it.

Do not let this be you or your child's story.

Get over to http://www.bullyproofkids.com today and pick up the course, "How to Bully Proof Your Child".

Your child's future is worth it.

To your best,

Sensei Harrison Huff