Lost post ahead!
Anderson Cooper , the Silver Fox
For those who don't know, Anderson Cooper is a journalist and a news anchor for CNN. He has become somewhat of a television personality and since September last year, have delved into daytime television by having his own daytime talk show, Anderson.
Ever since Anderson Cooper have launched his daytime talk show, he would feature celebrity guest stars, have Q an A sessions, talk on various topics like children pageant shows, plastic surgery, people with strange afflictions and hobbies to pets. What he features on his show isn't exactly focused or structured like Oprah but I'm guessing since this is his show, he will pick on whatever topic he finds interesting.
He uploads various snippets and behind the scenes of his talkshow onto his Youtube Channel and while I was surfing through it, I came across a video of Anderson Cooper touching on the topic of bullying in schools.
Subsequently I viewed another video of him interviewing a young boy who was victim of bullying in his school and his torment was documented in a new real life documentary about bullying in schools.
The documentary is called 'Bully' and is directed by Lee Hirsch. Have a look at the trailer below.
Bullying has become such an epidermic in the US that government bodies have tried to find ways to curb this problem. There has been too many young people being forced to take their own lives after being tormented by bullies and when the people that should be helping them looks the other way.
Bullying is now fueled even further like an uncontrollable fire due to social networking and the anonymity of the internet. Cyber bullying is another monster altogether.
In Malaysia, bullying isn't as big as an issue as it is in the US but be clear that it does happen. There have been incidents of fighting and victimizing/hazing in schools or boarding schools which if not looked into can become a serious problem.
Watching the videos above got me thinking to my own days of being bullied when I was a child.
In kindergarten, I would be tormented by two girls who would steal my things, called me names and used items such as metal pencil cases to hit me over the head repeatedly. I remembered one particularly horrible day when the girls used my coloring pens to draw all over my arms and legs. I walked over to the teacher, bawling my eyes out and showing her what they had done to me to ask for help. She looked at me disinterested and told me "Tak ape la. Small thing". She shooed me off to my seat and the torment started again.
I was lucky enough to be transferred to another class shortly after. I don't remember the details but I think my mom stepped in when she saw her daughter coming home with coloring pen marks all over her face,hands and legs like some graffiti art gone wrong. :P
Which brings me to highlight the concern of teachers in the classroom not intervening when they clearly should. When I was being bullied by those two girls, the teacher was in the classroom throughout the entire time.
Throughout my schooling days I've had VERY few teachers I know that were genuinely there to teach,nurture and care for their students. The rest, were clearly not there to teach but rather were forced into a profession that they were not trained for and not want to be in.
Free periods happen way to often and I've had a few teachers sleeping in class while the classroom runs amok.
Schools should train their teachers and administrators to ensure no student is hurt or harm physically or mentally. Any student committing an act of being aggressive or bullying should be reprimanded. It's as simple as that.
Parents also play an important role of making bullying stop. My mom stepped in. The bullying stopped as I have transferred to another class. I was one of the lucky few that managed to escape the situation but for others not so. Parents should take note of cues of their child being a victim OR being a bully himself/herself and putting a stop to it whatever the cost.
Bullying has ever lasting scars and before it becomes a problem, parents, school administration and other students must be aware of it to make it stop.
