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Day of a Butterfly Expository Essay

In Day of a Butterfly, all of the kids in the elementary school, especially the girls, are in a hostile environment. One of the teachers at the time tried to help by discouraging this toxic culture, but it didn’t work. I will explain what could have been done to help get rid of the bullying in the school. 

“Everybody knew of Jimmy Sayla’s shame and at recess (if he was not being kept in, as he often was, for doing something he shouldn’t in school) he did not dare go out on the school grounds, where the other little boys, and some bigger ones, were waiting to chase him and corner him against the back fence and thrash him with tree branches” (Alice Munro 34). The older, stronger boys push and throw Jimmy around into the fence and tree branches. One way this could be solved is by telling the other boys to treat Jimmy how they want to be treated. ”Ensure that the person who is doing the bulling knows what behavior is wrong, why it’s wrong, and what the consequences are for engaging in the behavior. If the behavior keeps occurring, the parents will need to be involved.” ("10 Ways to Help Reduce Bullying in Schools"). By telling the bullies that what they are doing is wrong and has consequences, they might reconsider their actions. This also stops any further involvement from parents or guardians that could potentially make the problem bigger.

“Most of the teachers at our school had been teaching for a long time and at recess, they would disappear into the teachers’ room and not bother us. But our own teacher, the young woman of the fragile gold-rimmed glasses, was apt to watch us from a window” (Alice Munro 34). In this quote, all the teachers except for Miss Darling let the kids do whatever they wanted when recess came. This is where most of the bullying took place because there was no adult supervision. “An entire school district needs to have the same language within all its schools in order to reduce bullying. To start, the schools need to have a common definition of bullying. CPI defines bullying (2011) as being characterized by intentionally aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance of power and strength. It can be exemplified through physical, verbal/nonverbal, and/or relational means. It is a repeated offense, even when teachers observe it for the first time. Talking to the victim about what happened and whether there have been past occurrences is very important.” ("10 Ways to Help Reduce Bullying in Schools"). Because the entire time the children were at school, almost no adult cared about teaching the kids these life lessons. Every teacher needs to be involved and have the same ideas of what rules need to be followed.

“Oh,” said Miss Darling dubiously. “Well you ought to try to be nicer to her anyway. Don’t you think so? Don’t you? You will try to be nicer, won’t you? I know you will.” Poor Miss Darling! Her campaigns were soon confused, her persuasions turned to bleating and uncertain pleas.” (Alice Munro 35). In the Story, Miss Darling tries to get the other girls to play with Myra by being passive-aggressive. But the narrator shoves off the teacher's words as if she was begging her and the rest of the girls to play with Myra. “When students are able to approach ideas and problems from multiple perspectives, they’re less likely to bully others.” ("6 Ways Educators Can Prevent Bullying in Schools"). Miss Darling was doing the right thing; in fact she was trying to make the other girls feel what Myra was feeling. Miss Darling was also a bit rude in the way that she treated the girls who were not playing with Myra.

“I saw Myra and Jimmy ahead of me on the hill; they always went to school very early—sometimes so early that they had to stand outside waiting for the janitor to open the door. They were walking slowly, and now and then Myra half turned around. I had often loitered in that way, wanting to walk with some important girl who was behind me, and not quite daring to stop and wait. Now it occurred to me that Myra might be doing this with me. I did not know what to do. I could not afford to be seen walking with her, and I did not even want to” (Alice Munro 37). In the book, the narrator talks about not wanting to be seen with Myra. She thinks that even being seen next to Myra will lower her “social hierarchy” in school. “When teachers and staff call a child a bully or a victim, they place a judgment on that child, which can then cause problems in the future for that student.” ("10 Ways to Help Reduce Bullying in Schools"). Myra had a label on her by all of the other students. Removing labels like this in schools makes it easier in this case, making the narrator not care that she is walking behind Myra.

“Then Myra had to come and ask the teacher: “Please may I take my brother home, he has wet himself?” That was what she said the first time and everybody in the front seats heard her—though Myra’s voice was the lightest singsong—and there was a muted giggling which alerted the rest of the class.” (Alice Munro 34). Miss Darling made Myra feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in the classroom. Myra having to tell the teacher out loud that her bother wet himself making the other students in the first row giggle at her. “In order to stop the spread of bullying from the leadership level down to students, start by looking within your own classroom. After a bad day or tense interaction with a colleague, try not to bring negativity into your teaching. Focus your energy on cultivating a learning environment built on positivity, openness, and support.” ("6 Ways Educators Can Prevent Bullying in Schools") stated by Lesley University, if bullying starts with the teacher, then it goes down to the students. Miss Darling wasn’t trying to make Myra feel unwelcomed, but it came across in a bad light.

In Day of a Butterfly, the elementary school did almost nothing to stop the bullying at the school. But, with the techniques that I have in this paper, the teachers at the school should be confident in handling any type of toxic behavior, bullying, or a hostile environment at their school.

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