Why Law Enforcement Officers Should Help Stop Bullying

With solid relationships forged through the school resource officer (SRO) and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) programs, law enforcement officers are in a unique position to help identify and eliminate bullying behavior in schools – behavior that is seriously interfering with students ’ ability to receive a sound education. What is Bullying? Bullying among children is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength.Typically, it is repeated over time. Bullying can take many forms such as hitting, punching (physical bullying); teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying); intimidation through gestures or social exclusion (nonverbal bullying or emotional bullying); and sending insulting messages by e-mail (cyber bullying)