Bullying, earworms and empathy

I recently saw the documentary Bully on Netflix. My heart was broken for the bullying endured by tender and vulnerable children. Bullying has long created a false hierarchy. People who look a certain way or act a certain way are targeted for peer rejection, abuse and even violence. How can we as adults help to decrease these acts? 

Typically how adults address bullying includes posters, assemblies and reminders. I typically ask my college students if they had K to 12 school programs and assemblies on this subject. They generally all say, “Yes.” When I ask them about the content, they don’t remember what they learned. They don’t recall the stories or a lesson beyond just don’t do it.

The content of these lessons need to be more memorable in order to change behavioral patterns and influence societal norms. And I think we should be looking at prevention instead of trying to undo patterns that are already set in motion. Perhaps a song is in order, an ear worm that plays over and over, one where the message is readily recalled even in a stressful moment. 

The song Don’t laugh at me is a great start. The song was written by Allen Shamblin and Steve Seskin and recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary on their albums Songs of Conscience and Concern. A later recording by Mark Wills earned the artist a number 2 placement on the Billboard country charts and an award by the Country Music Association for song and video in the year of 1998. The verses describes the vulnerable people who are prone to bullying- the kid who’s always chosen last, the kid who is called a “geek,” the homeless person holding a sign for money or food. The chorus is the message that needs to get sticky in a child’s brain: 

   Don’t laugh at me, don’t call me names
   Don’t get your pleasure from my pain