How do you take care of bullies?
In the third episode of Ted Lasso, the coach shares this good advice to the team captain: “If teacher tells a bully not to pick on someone, it’s just gonna make it worse.”
Overwhelmingly, that’s true. As leaders we still need to create conditions where bullying can be minimized, and appropriate consequences should exist for untrustworthy behavior. But as a rule, I’m in favor of peer intervention to stop bullying, rather than intervention from the leadership.
Create a culture that discourages bullying, and empower students to take care of the people who need taking care of.
Because, of course, the opposite of bullying is caring for. Funny, “caring for” sounds a lot like “taking care of” in my first sentence.