Although I know not everyone who reads this article will agree with me, I think that staying abreast of current events is one of the most important things that a child can learn in school. Current events articles teach a child to be an involved citizen in his or her community. This is a lifelong skill – one almost as important as reading, writing, or arithmetic. When I teach kids current events in my classroom, however, I try to make sure that they are events that seem relevant to the students. So when several of my students brought in bullying articles last time we had current events day, I decided to Make a unit out of it.

You see, I thought there was no better way to demonstrate the importance of current events than through bullying articles for kids. Although kids bullying is supposed to be a rare occurrence in our school, in reality it does happen – and more often than one would like to admit. There has been no good study done on it, and every bullying article that I have read has said something different, but all of them agree that the problem is pervasive. In addition to more traditional forms of bullying – such as passing nasty notes, attacking other students, or calling names, cyber bullying is a new and troubling trend. Because there are so many kids who spend a lot of time on the cell phone, Instant Messenger, or e-mail, this problem has grown a lot in recent years. According to several bullying articles, kids are no longer safe even when they are at home. Bullies can still get at them.

I hoped that, through sharing bullying articles and discussing them in class, we could unite the kids against bullying. Bullies, although they can be brutal, are also generally cowardly. According to bullying articles, if enough kids stand up to a bully he will usually be forced to stop. Bullies are skilled manipulators, able to tell when and where they can get away with their abuse. Letting the kids trade bullying stories allowed them to each know that they aren't alone – that everyone suffers from bullies now and then. This is the point of current events for kids – to show them that keeping in touch with the events in the world around them is in their interest. Through bullying articles, not only was I able to help them to educate themselves, but I may have inspired a lifelong interest in learning.