Educators today are under constant pressure to improve students’ standardized test scores and to improve students’ overall academic performance. If a student’s test scores are not up to snuff or if students have academic difficulty that can’t be explained, often, a principal will find his or her way into the classroom for an observation to try to find something wrong with the teacher’s instructional methods. See More Respect Is The Key To Stopping Bullying Behavior (est. read time 2:24 mins)

Bullying has become an epidemic in our schools. However it is defined, bullying is not just child’s play, but a terrifying experience many American school children face every day. It can be as direct as teasing, hitting, or threatening, or indirect as exclusion, rumors, or manipulation. During the past decade, bullying has become more lethal and has occurred more frequently than it had in the previous two decades. Bullying can no longer be explained away, as some adults are inclined to do, as a normal part of growing up. Bullying has only harmful, not beneficial, effects for the target and the perpetrator- even the bystander. Many children in our nation’s schools are robbed of the opportunity to learn because they are bullied and victimized daily. Bullying exacts a terrible toll on children, and the scars can last a lifetime. (nea.org).