Girl Scouts Meets Bullying: A Practical Perspective on the Rite of Passage

There are many times in life when making the right decision is difficult.

As a girl, I vividly remember knowing that it was wrong to make fun of fat kids, kids with disabilities, or kids that were a different ethnicity than myself. I am not sure where in my childhood I can pinpoint learning this lesson. I believe this “knowing” comes naturally to nearly every person in childhood. So why are children bullied? Where do they learn this from? But more importantly, what can be done to stop it?

When I was a kid, bullying took the form of taunting, teasing and often times, tears. On a rare occasion, a fist fight broke out. Kids would be sent to the principal’s office and detention dates set. That’s what happened when I was a kid. It was only slightly different for my parents generation and despite frequent headlines, bullying has only changed slightly for today’s generation of young people. Today’s youth have one major difference when it comes to this unfortunate coming-of-age rite of passage: technology.

Kids today have taken bullying to internet social networks like MySpace (dubbed “cyberbullying”). They’ve also gotten the hang of originating and forwarding hurtful (and harmful) text messages. The primary difference between the last two generations of young people, however, is that today’s technology allows bullying messages to linger, to be seen by more people, and to nearly eliminate face-to-face confrontation.

Sending kids to the principal’s office used to be a fair punishment. Parents would become involved and kids would work out the problems through conflict resolution or finding new groups of friends. Today, we’ve invented a new vocabulary to describe the catastrophic aftermath of bullying – Columbine and “bullycide” (a suicide caused by bullying and depression) come to mind whenever I discuss this issue with peers. Although the stakes have become even higher in today’s ever-connected world, I believe the brunt of burden has, and always will, lie with bystanders to bullying.

What does this mean for Girl Scouts? The Girl Scout Promise states, “On my honor, I will try…to help people at all times.” I believe this promise applies to all forms of peer pressure and bullying. It is the most difficult position, and yet, the most rewarding – to help a fellow person in need…to stand up and say, “This isn’t cool,” “You’re being mean and hurtful,” or, “Leave her alone, seriously.”

I’d like to hear from girls who have been a bystander, a bully, or bullied by someone else. What do you think? Chime in to this conversation and check back to see what your peers are saying about this.


by Monique Johns