Watching the fallout for the last week has been a picture of what happens with bullying in schools. People allow a bully to flourish because of the pain he/she can inflict upon them. It has been disturbing to watch celebrities react to their experience and knowledge of Harvey Weinstein. He is said to have been vindictive toward ladies who rebuffed his “romantic, but unwanted” advances. (Trying to keep it G rated here.) This vindictiveness has crippled powerful people and agencies from relating the information in a timely way and from putting this man in a position to be held accountable for his actions. As a matter of fact, when someone finally did speak loudly and boldly, she was ignored and marginalized.
One of the saddest things for me personally was to watch an interview with Jane Fonda. ( http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/10/13/jane-fonda-knew-about-harvey-weinstein-and-kept-quiet.html ) Here was this Hollywood icon apologizing because she knew of the events but didn’t say anything. Her reasons for silence were that she didn’t feel it was her story to tell and it hadn’t happened to her. She said going forward that wouldn’t silence her.
I’m sad because adults can not model standing up to a bully. I’m sad because there are still people holding back from denouncing this man because their own foibles may be brought to light. I’m sad because these are people my students admire, but they have dropped the ball. It is sad that we keep telling kids to speak up. If you see it, say it. Don’t hide when something is bad, or when someone threatens you. That’s what we tell our students.
However, this week’s news told them you should only speak up if you are sure the bully is completely neutralized. Speaking up will cost you. You may get your reputation challenged if you challenge a bully. You may not find success if expose a bully. If you think I’m misspeaking, please check out this link. ( http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/13/media/harvey-weinstein-recap/index.html ) This article delineates the very things I’ve mentioned.
We teachers have a job to do. (In my classroom, students and parents believe all conflict constitutes bullying. That’s not what I’m talking about here.) We have to teach students to value themselves as unique people. We have to teach students to appreciate other students to value the uniqueness of each person they meet. We have to teach students to follow the Golden Rule and to love their neighbors as they love themselves. (Even if you don’t believe in the Bible, you can certainly teach the truths found there. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Love other people. Treat them better than you treat yourself.)
It can be frustrating and discouraging to see this bullying behavior go seemingly unpunished in the realm of Hollywood. We are fighting mistreatment of others on every level of society, not just in our classrooms.
When I return to class, I will make every effort to direct my students to consider the value they have as a member of our class. I will work to make each person realize when they are treating others less kindly than they should. Then, I will hope and pray we succeed so the next generation will do better in their treatment of others.
Harvey Weinstein may be a bully (as well as having other issues in relationships and in maintaining legal behavior) and his purported behavior has brought out the weaknesses of others and preyed upon them. We need to make sure that we are maintaining an environment that does not allow the weaknesses of others to become the playing field of a potential bully. Stand up and speak up should be more than a slogan. It should be what we model and what we expect our students to do.
First published 10/14/17
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