Pick one of the social challenges and give as many ideas as you can for how a teacher could address its effects in his or her classroom

Bullying is something I have had personal experience with and assuming an objective stance to resolve this often destructive behavior would be difficult for me. Nonetheless, I know it is something I will undoubtedly have to address when I begin teaching. 

My late elementary school years  and middle school years 7 and 8 were most terrifying. At five feet five inches and under a hundred pounds I easily the runt of my family, and at a grade when hormones are erupting and adolescence was transitioning boys and girls into trouble makers and drama queens, I was an easy target. What made it worse was that I truly and honestly had no friends. I might as well have had a shirt that read "kick my ass." The worse came in during the middle of my 8th grade year, when these particular 6 boys would find me after school and, to put it simply, kicked my ass. At that age a kid rarely turns to his parents for help. I did not either. I just endured it. 

But bullying yields such tremendous pressure on students by sapping freedom from their individual. I can remember avoiding going to my locker, purposefully failing to avoid names like "nerd" and "geek" and at one point I had a gold-plated Cross brand pen my mom got me for my birthday, because I like to write, stolen from me. For fear of physical abuse I didn't report it, and simply told my mom I lost it (she still thinks this to this day, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with Cross manufactured pens, they're pretty expensive). But such things affected my grades, my performance, and my ability to socialize and talk to to people. It ended when I met a group of friends who were trouble.

Around my sophomore year in high school I befriended this group of guys who offered protection, to say the least, but were a group of kids I wouldn't let my adopted least loved child hang around with (this is a joke, if i were to adopt I'd love him or her just same). To seek approval and acceptance with this group of people, I picked up drinking, purposefully failed grades, smoking, and cutting class. I never wanted to do any of this, but I just wanted the bullying to stop, which it did, and I wanted companions. I'm no longer friends with all but 1 of these persons. I decided shortly after high school that they were simply holding me back from reaching my potential. Ironically, I've returned to my state of isolation I had during my pre-high school years but I'm much happier and more importantly, free. At five feet ten and a half inches and weighing in at about 170 pounds, I can say that I don't put up with any type of bullying anymore because even in adulthood, there is still bullying, but it occurs verbally in the workplace and other social settings, and not so much physical. Nevertheless, I recognize bullying at all levels, and at all ages.

My personal case doesn't apply to all victims of bullying. For the most part, the effects are similar. There are worse cases like mine that resulted in tragedy like Columbine. 

I would like to say that to resolve this issue I would apply strict consequences to bullying, the least of which would include suspension. But I know this rarely resolves the issue. I think a bully should be forced into emersion within those he or she bullies, so that the person could understand that the people that are picked on are not less of a person than him or her in hopes that the bully will return with a greater appreciation for all people.