8-year-old Cassandra Garcia was reportedly given the “catastrophe award” for being the “one student with the most excuses for not having their homework done” in front of her entire third grade class at Desert Springs Academy.

“All the children were laughing at her,” the girl’s mother told MyFoxPhoenix.

The teacher, who was only identified as Ms. Plowman, reportedly said she saw the award as a joke. Cassandra’s mother says she sees it as bullying.

MyFoxPhoenix reports it is unclear if the school plans on punishing the teacher.

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When is it spanking? When is it abuse?

Many will quote the Bible verse “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” The Bible Says: “He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him correcteth him betimes” (Proverbs 13:24) and “Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 23:13-14).But this was written in the Old Testament.

But the New Testament adapts the parenting instruction advising that a Christian leader should be “one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence, (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?). So then in considering these verses located in I Timothy 2:4 and 5 we can draw the conclusion that a good Christian leader leads his family with Christian doctrine not by striking them. The ultimate authority is Christ so the wise parent lives a Godly life leading by example.

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Encourage not discourage your child.

A child is to be disciplined with grace not beaten into submission. It is not about breaking the will of your child, but building up your child. We are given instruction on how to not discourage but encourage our youth. Physical punishment may keep your child in line while you are present to inflict the punishment, but what happens once the child is on his or her own? A child who is grounded in faith has a foundation which is instilled and helps a child to make appropriate decisions on his or her own.

Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. “

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs provides a promise and a command, not a suggestion.

Grace can undo poor child training and one of God’s gifts, His righteousness is one of the best instructional tools known to man. Train your child with consistency, God’s doctrine and by example tempered with grace and love. We cannot make our children righteous as it is a gift from God. We can teach them God’s word and by living in a Godly way, they will seek the righteousness of God. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” Romans 10:17. Is the child hearing the word of God?

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The author of the best-selling book “Raising a Thinking Child, Myrna B. Shure PhD wrote in her book Thinking Parent, Thinking Child “I don’t say “Never spank” an occasional spanking won’t hurt your child, and it may legitimately relieve your own anger and frustration. However, if you rely on spanking, you’ll encounter many unintended consequences. Perhaps the most serious result is that it teaches your child to disregard his own feelings.” Caring for their own feelings is the first step towards learning empathy.

The following results are born from frequent and harsh spankings:

• Spanking can cause a child to feel overpowered and helpless leaving him or her angry and frustrated. Needing to regain power they may feel the need to exercise power over those who are less threatening to them. This is how a bully can be born.

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• A child may withdraw emotionally from the parent who spanks them frequently losing trust and an emotional bond with that parent. They may also rebel from the very values that parent is striving to instil.

• Spanking causes a child to avoid the behaviour which caused the spanking but not to think about proper behaviour.

• Spanking may teach a child that hitting is an appropriate way to express anger and they may lash out physically when they are angry.

In conclusion, spanking should not be the only form of punishment. A parent needs to learn how to instruct a child as to the consequences of bad behaviour in a positive way to make discipline a teaching tool. Train your child in the ethics of the law, not the letter of the law so they can make wiser choices and they will feel more confidence and a stronger self-esteem when faced with life’s trials.

A farmer understands the need to separate animals to prevent violence and competition in the ranks, especially among males. Those who spend time observing creatures in the wild can also relate tales of sudden violent actions among animals that would be bereft of moral sanction in many human communities.

Selfish behavior is rampant in the animal kingdom as, in the wild, selfishness can often be a survival trait. Without the intellectual capacity to make a decision to share learning and training with others of a kind, self-preservation manifests as survival of the fittest and, most often, the strongest. Among insects, we can observe social structure dictated by chemical influence during the larval stage. In the herd and flocking structure of more advanced species like mammals and birds, we can see the evolutionary development of protected, if often exclusionary, societies.

We observe competition within herd and flock structures, as members chose mates, struggle for food, move up the ranks and eliminate competition. Research justifies this animal behavior as a method of eliminating the weak (burdens to the society) and insuring that only the most fit can breed. It is considered nature’s way of guaranteeing survival of species.

Following evolutionary principles, in which successful survival traits are passed onto the young and to new species, we can understand how the desire to bully enters the human framework. It is a 100% natural tendency that, in the wild, guarantees survival of the fittest.

Yet in human beings, nature also provided the intellectual capacity to survive without resorting to bullying. This is a learned trait characterized by the rationale that there are less barbaric ways to ensure survival of the masses.

Since control of the need to bully is a learned, and not instinctive trait, it becomes imperative that parents understand that the natural propensity of the young is to try to control the world around them. Bullying is one external manifestation of this desire. All humans are capable of bullying, not just those who show certain traits. Therefore, one does not have to wait for evidence that a child is on the path to becoming a bully to act proactively against that child becoming a bully.

Before a child is even born, it is receiving communications from the outside world. Conveying from the beginning, in not just words but also actions, that forcibly exerting one’s will upon others is wrong becomes the best weapon in combating the reality that all children are born capable of bullying. It is dangerous to conclude that your sweet and innocent new-born cannot be a bully or be the victim of bullying. Assume that both possibilities are true throughout life.

A conversational comfort zone must be established between child and parent from the beginning. Recall what it was like for you to be a child, to have questions, to have no comprehension of why certain things are right and other things are wrong. Adults are easily capable of overlooking the fact that socially acceptable behavior is not known to the young. Conveying an awareness and full comprehension of why certain things are right and wrong must be done before a child encounters a situation in which an action hinges upon a moral decision or impulsive behavior.

Therefore, the subject of bullying needs to come up frequently in household conversation during a child’s growth. Both sides of the issue need to discussed. Make the child aware of what constitutes bullying behavior. Additionally, make your child comfortable enough with you to talk about even small incidents during their day that may indicate that your child is a victim of bullying.

The chief weapon of bullies is fear and intimidation. A bully can become a more powerful influence than parents in a child’s life because of this fear. There is a lot of pressure on a child not to report or ‘rat out’ a bully. This pressure can come in many forms including:

• 1) A feeling of helplessness in that reporting a bully will result in bully retaliation;

• 2) A fear of not being believed by adults and/or that nothing can or will be done;

• 3) A fear that adult intervention further lowers the child’s standing in society because that child is weak enough to require adult (ie: ‘outsider’) protection…the fear of being labeled a wimp

• 4) Fear of disappointing parents (and in abusive households, fear of being punished for being weak).

We live in an intellectual society where physical prowess is no longer a major component of survival or even of finding a mate. Social reasoning has been the means through which humans have developed a more comfortable, healthy and protected society than has ever been observed in nature. Our intellect, combined with empathy for others, has made human beings fit to become the dominant life force on the planet. Physical strength no longer holds sway as our dominant survival strategy, but the instinct to use that strength has not dissipated. We still often tend to perceive weaker individuals as not being up to par.

If we instill a recognition in our young that all people have feelings, emotions and desires similar to theirs, it may affect a change in their behavior. The concept of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is one that every child should be educated about from the moment they become capable of oral communication. Bullying is 100% natural but is also 100% unacceptable in human society.

Originally Published in M.A.S.K. Magazine

Head spinning in confusion, feet pounding against concrete, *Steven Henderson ran. The cold air bit against his face as screams of hatred followed behind him.

“Queer! Faggot!” his seventh grade peers screamed.

All on bikes, the number of boys grew to almost 30. When Henderson neared his home, the boys finally backed down and rode off. Even after telling a counselor the following day, the harassment continued.

“[I felt] I was disliked by many people because I was being true to my feelings and being honest with myself,” he said.

As an openly gay sophomore, he believes that bullies find lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gendered (LGBT) teens an “easy target.” In fact, he sees anti-gay cyber bullying two to three times a week. He believes teens today “have more access to technology than ever before,” making it easier to torment LGBT teens anonymously.

These experiences inspired Henderson to create a club to help change the way his peers view their LGBT peers.  He and his friends consider the club a safe haven for LGBT teens and hope to spread awareness to their fellow students and school’s faculty.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of those involved.

We have a great nation yes we do the reason for that is that states and the federal government harnessed all of the resources including man power to make it that way; We built high ways and roads that we use today using American labor innovation tax money to do that  and American supplies and talent to build this nation. It took a lot work and we were interrupted by the likes of the kaiser and Hitler who were bullies and have to be put back in there place by England us France and Denmark among others. But as long as government are made up of people there will be some corruption the idea is to keep it in check and that’s our job to do that. but with out government we wouldn’t be able to have some of our finest accomplishments like the internet But shouldn’t be a bully either.

St.Pierre Department of France Kanada (Photo credit: Aah-Yeah)

In the first election he had most of the black vote pretty much sewn up along with a lot of the Hispanic vote.Now those of the last two groups have had time to become disillusioned with histalk loud,and do absolutely nothing method of Government.We still hear that he is a muslim,and that he isn’t even a citizen.Not so much from the media,he’s still their darling,after all.Kind of like Slick Willy without the b.j.’s.We will hear no evil spoken of the man.

Of course his one saving grace is that his opponent is Mitt Romney.Who Strike one for a lot of people is a Mormon.Strike two could be his propensity for changing his mind.When O’bama had Bin-laden put down he said at first that it was ill-timed and ill-considered.The seeing that the American people were dancing on the pile of s**t’s grave he changed to,”I would have done that too!”Strike three could be either that or a combination of his High-School Bullying.[At least that is what I would call having someone held down while he shaves his head.Not High-School Hi-jinks that he and his people try to spin it as.]

Hell people have been shot in those hallowed halls for less.And while I’m sure that Mitt and his buds considered it “good clean fun” I can think of at least one person who didn’t.[Been me I would have had some of my own back.]But I can see the poor little rich-boy act for what it is,all schools have clicks.And the one defining feature of a click is that the more money it’s members have the less is said about what they do no matter how mean,petty,small,or just flat-out vicious it may be.Which is what sometimes leads to the recipient of these hi-jinks sneaking up behind the said party and putting a bullet in the back of their skull.Be it right or wrong I can certainly see the motivation behind such acts when they happen.It wouldn’t surprise me that this haircut started with a back-attack by Mitt and his ‘boys’.

Of course what we as a people have to decide is whether this is more damning than the pictures of O’bama looking for all the world like a pimp in his High-School & College photos?Or smoking that suspicious looking cigarette in one of them.

When it gets right down to it I doubt if I will vote this election.Although if O’bama would keep his word on legalization I would be tempted[Wouldn't that be novel,a politition keeping his word on a campaign promise?].And I can’t see voting for O’bama like George Bush he spends too much time sucking up to the muslims.

    I want you to take a look at this image. What does it look like to you? Lets break it down together. I want you to imagine it as a type of chain. A pyramid of popularity. At the top, of course, would be the advanced. The “I’m better than you in every way.” kids. The next level would be the bullies. They push themselves through the crowed, attempting to find the higher level.

   The third level, also known as the “tag-along level” the kids that strive to be apart of a group, and would do anything to survive the climb to the top of the chain. Lastly the targets, “I’m different, and you can’t change me.” The kids that stand for themselves and refuse to be influenced by others. Which, is usually most of the school. They are one of the lowest levels of the chain, and are forever known as the “losers”.

   Lets talk about the losers. The people who are picked on simply because they are different. They are tormented and harassed by everyone else. Some, will only cry and move on. While others, don’t move on at all. The rest, they move on to a better place.

   How many kids, that you bullied, are still alive and doing well? Not very many. School torture can last a lifetime. If we got rid of bullies, then maybe we would have fewersuicides, and more happiness. Maybe, we would also have less crimes. WE can make a difference, we just choose not to.

I dare you, bully me now.

In a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers from King’s College London found out that  children bullied during their formative years in schools, at home or institutions are three times at risk of committing suicide  when they get to adolescence than their peers who grew up without being bullied.

The researchers studied  more than 1,000 pairs of twins born between 1994-1995 in England and Wales within the age range of 5, 7, 10  and 12 years old. The kids were assessed on the risks of self-harming in the six months prior to their 12th birthdays and it was found out that  237 children were victims of frequent bullying and of them, 18 of them easily self harmed themselves compared to 44  of the 1,904 kids who were not bullied.They concluded that early bullying had a long term effect on the psychological state of the affected children which makes them more prone to suicidal ideations.

It is not clear what the degree of bullying is at the global level today , but having suffered bullying myself on my first few days in High school, I want to agree very strongly with this study. A part from the psychological dimensions of bullying, there are also serious injuries that victims suffer as a result of being beaten by the bullies.

Some of the self harm that most of these kids engaged in were acts such as cutting their own arms, biting their bodies and pulling their own hair, banging their heads on walls and in the  extreme, they attempt suicide.

The scientists have therefore recommended that greater efforts need to be directed at improving the way in which children cope with emotional pains both  at home and in schools.