Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Fighting Back against Bullying
It is often said that childhood is the most joyful period in a person’s life. This is supposed to be a time when children can focus on their studies and enjoy their free time with friends. However, these days more and more children are experiencing a stressful and miserable adolescence due to bullying. Bullying occurs when one student, or a group of students, uses aggression to harm another child and try to make them feel bad. This abuse can either be physical, such as pushing or beating another student, or it could take the form of mental abuse, such as taunting and teasing the student. Although it may seem harmless to some, studies show that bullying can greatly impact a child’s life and have long-lasting negative effects. People who have been bullied may experience self-esteem issues and start to lack confidence in almost everything they do. These traits can make it difficult to manage relationships and even cause them to have trouble holding down a steady job. One of the most harmful types of bullying that is on the rise is cyberbullying. The bullied student is targeted in cruel or threatening e-mails, instant messages, or hateful public posts about them. In many cases, bullies will post embarrassing pictures of the victim or spread nasty rumors about them through social media. In some tragic cases, children have even turned to suicide, feeling that they can’t deal with the humiliation. If you are being bullied by another student, you don’t have to accept it or suffer. There are some steps you can take to deal with the problem. At first, you may try to ignore the bully, as they will often lose interest in bothering you if you don’t react. If the bullying persists, however, you should tell a trusted adult as soon as possible. This could be a parent, a family friend, a teacher, a school guidance counselor, or even the school principal. Until recently, many teachers and school officials turned a blind eye to bullying, believing that the students would eventually sort it out by themselves. But this mindset has changed in recent years in light of some of the tragedies that have occurred. If for any reason you feel that your complaints are not being taken seriously, there are other groups available online who will help you deal with bullying. By dealing with bullying at an early stage, you can stop it before it gets much worse.
5. The phrase “turned a blind eye to” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
