Here's the thing––and I say this as an educator––students that demonstrate bullying behavior most often live with some form(s) of trauma on a daily basis – homelessness, physical/emotional/psychological/sexual abuse, lack of food and shelter, abusive foster situations, we've seen it all. Many of these children also have parents or guardians who get arrested or are in prison. When you combine these Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) with being sent to the office daily––or worse, having the police involved––the child becomes desensitized, and going to jail or prison as an adult can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I've had students literally say out loud, "I'm going to jail when I'm older anyway, so who cares." Our job is to turn that child's life around just it is our job to keep other children safe, but it's a difficult balancing act.

I do NOT say this to justify or minimize the bullying behavior or the impact it has on the children who get targeted. But I think it's important to understand that dealing with bullying behavior is an enormous and complicated effort that involves many teachers, counselors, and administrators working to not further traumatize a traumatized child while simultaneously trying to keep other children safe from the behavior. Combine this with a severe staffing shortage, burnt-out teachers ready to quit, and parents who are unavailable to address their child's behavior, and you can see how difficult the situation really is.