Bullying behavior was confronted when Park University hosted Dr. Blanche Sosland in the “Powerful Texts” Series Sept. 11, held in the Mabee Learning Center.
Sosland, a Park professor emeritus of education, spoke to students about the textbook she helped collaborate on, “Banishing Bullying Behavior.” She said she was honored to be back to Park lecturing about a topic that was very important to her – bullying in the classroom.
“It’s good to be home,” Sosland said.
Sosland reflected back on the purpose behind the text. In order to complete “Banishing Bullying Behavior”, SuEllen Fried and Sosland conducted countless interviews with 70,000 people in 36 states over 20 years.
“I was keenly aware of the lack of proper preparation for teachers to deal with the ever growing challenge of bullying in the classroom,” Sosland said. “SuEllen (Fried) and I agreed that there was a tremendous need for a text in higher education to prepare classroom teachers to adequately meet the needs of their students to banish bullying.”
The book reflected on personal accounts of experiences of being bullied and the long term effects that it held on those observed.
While Park students and faculty may not see an issue with bullying on a college campus, it still remains a serious issue.
“Bullying is unfortunately a widespread problem in society today, so I doubt Park is immune,” said Senior Courtney Manning.
There are five different kinds of bullying according to Sosland including physical, verbal, emotional, sexual and cyber-bullying. Physical bullying is more common among boys, while girls tend to practice verbal bullying.
“I think there is a fine line between teasing and bullying,” Manning said. “I work at a school, so I have seen firsthand how mild teasing between friends can quickly escalate to serious bullying and injured feelings. Even though friends may like to tease each other, they also know each other’s sensitive points, so it is their responsibility to be a good friend and consider the other person’s feelings. If you are not careful about your friends’ feelings, you may easily step over the boundary from teasing to bullying.”
The widespread impact of bullying leads anti-bullying proponents to focus on awareness and support for victims.
“I think it is important, then, to spread awareness about bullying,” Manning said. “Even if it takes a while for the message to sink in, any anti-bullying efforts are worthwhile if they have an effect.”
Dr. Kathy Lofflin, series organizer, stressed to attendees the purpose of the Powerful Texts Lecture Series.
“Texts can be powerful in our lives, and can make a difference for readers, for writers and for the world,” Lofflin said. “The power of texts comes from our engagement with them. Powerful texts can be powerful in positive ways, but they also can be powerful in negative ways. It is our job to work to maximize the positive power of texts, and to minimize their negative power.”
The Powerful Texts Series will continue with its last series lecture Friday, Oct. 18, and Saturday, Oct. 19, in the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel.
