Letter to the editor: Bullying is a serious problem that group seeks to solve

Bullying in our schools is real and my message to other parents and grandparents is this: It is OK to be fed up. However, don’t give up.

When our children and grandchildren are being pulled from the school for their own safety and hopefully a less-stressed learning environment, I ask that you keep this in mind: Is it fair for the children, who grew up with morals and are attending schools that they like with friends they have made and teachers they respect, to be forced away?

When we have children in our school system spending more time in and out of the offices, detentions, suspensions and juvenile courts over bullying-related issues and other poor choices while attending our schools then my next questions are: How can this be a child willing to learn? Where are the parents who should want to see their children be successful in their futures?

Witnessing the bullying my grandson and others have had to endure over the last four years has made me decide to do whatever I can to help. In reality we all know bullying will not stop in our schools. Is it fair for us to blame just the children who have fallen into this poor behavior? My answers to these two questions are: No, bullying will never stop, however we as adults can try harder to control it, and no, we should not just blame the children. Their parents should be mandated by the law to be present at every interview having to face consequences as well.

I am a firm believer that we as a community, school district, state and nation are all facing these terrible issues. We do have the right to stand up and control this situation as a whole for the students who do want to learn and better themselves.

There is a group in town called the Parents Awareness/Prevention Center. It meets at 7 p.m. on every fourth Tuesday of the month. Their next meeting is Feb. 28 at the Thompson Community Center, 203 Second Ave. SE. I plan to be there and plan to do whatever I can to help them in their prevention strategy. You don’t have to be a parent or grandparent to join this cause so please, help make a difference in the most important part of our lives, our children.

Tina Busche

Jamestown

Tags: bullying, education, opinion, letters