Are Anti-Bullying Programs Making Bullying Worse?

originally posted 10 NOV 2014 

&Uniqueorn shared today about her experience with bullying and, from there, we've both commiserated over the poor attempts at anti-bullying in our kids' schools despite their anti-bully programs. Not surprisingly, we both homeschool now and have happier kids as a result.

Last year, a study by the University of Texas showed that schools with anti-bullying programs tend to have kids who were more likely to be bullied. The thinking is that these programs actually teach bullies better methods of bullying that are less likely to get them into trouble.

My son was in grade school when we enrolled him into the International Baccalaureate program. The school talked about their superior methods at preventing bullying. That school ended up being the worst experience. Not only did we find the academics to be more about ideology and less about, say, academics but the bullying was just awful. My son was being physically bullied and in tears almost every day there.

The Principal's solution, after being bullied by me, was to send the counselor to the classroom to hold class therapy sessions. These sessions ended up being a time when the kids would complain about the other kids which resulted in even more kids going home crying. They started interviewing the kids separately and one mom told me they asked her son if was really just his parents bullying him and not the kids in the school. For months this went on. We finally gave up on the school for a number of reasons but the bullying was a huge part of it.