The school yard bully is a personality we all remember from our childhood. We may not have ever been a target but we knew who the bullies were. We may even have been guilty of bullying ourselves. According to a 2007 Safe Youth report, one-third of our students report being bullied. http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/faq/bullying.asp The Legislature addressed the issue in 2009 by amending the safe Schools Improvement Act to include harassment and bullying. The Act requires States collect data and develop programs to track, prevent, and eliminate bullying. All but four states have enacted such laws but there are questions about both the laws' effectiveness and enforceability. Parents of victims are concerned that bullying is under reported by local schools and the punishment is too light. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091400607.html My school takes bullying and harassment very seriously; all parties involved are referred to guidance and administration to evaluate the situation. In many cases the school's liaison officer will get involved. We have a mentoring program and a very active civil rights team that proactively tries to prevent bullying. I think it is very hard for schools to prevent bullying. We are told that before a bully can receive punishment that fits the "crime" we must have proof. Proof is hard to come by. Parents of bullies don't want to see their child punished so they advocate for the child if they become involved at all.
Bullying today has 21st century skills. As the social order is beginning to take shape at school, I have begun overhearing the usual gossip of who said what about whom on MySpace or did you see what so and so posted on Facebook. Conflict at school is often a result from online activity generated outside of school the night before. Teachers and administrators have no authority over these activities but we are expected to clean up the mess. A recent editorial i the NY Times discusses the vagueness of cyber bullying as a criminal act. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/opinion/08tue2.html The focus of the editorial was the Court's inability to convict Lori drew, the mother who impersonated a 16 year old boy on MySpace to bully her daughter's classmate. The victim committed suicide. If the court has no ability to stop this type of bullying , how can schools?
As we bring more technology into the classroom, I can see this as a potential liability for teachers and schools. If a teacher creates a classroom MySpace it may be protected from uninvited friends but we have no control over what a student posts. When one reads the safe Schools Act you'll see the threat only has to be perceived by the victim. Before I endorse these modes of communication in my classroom I will need assurance that I will not be held responsible if the communication goes awry.
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Allyson,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great topic you have written about! Just this week I had to talk to my students AGAIN about bullying. I DO NOT TOLERATE in my classroom. Aside from the noramla no-tolerance policy we have in our school, I think I am a bit more strict because of personal experience. Fortunately, I was not bullied. However, I was unfortunately the bully in my high school. The girl I bullied has been in and out of jail and rehap for drug abuse. She has 3 children by 3 different fathers. I was mean! I regret it but there isn't anything I can do about it now.
When I was in school, we didn't have the internet as a tool to bully. But all of the staff and faculty knew that I was a bully and they did absolutely nothing about. I do believe that bullying is completely underreported by schools.
Last spring, I had students in my 5th grade class exhibiting signs of becoming bullies and I nipped it in the bud right away. I even brought in someone to talk to the class about bullying and the effects it has on the lives of not only the person(s) being bullied but on the bullier.
So thank you, Allyson, for touching on the subject again. It's something I think that all educators need to be aware of.
Kimberly
In my experience kids have zero verbal editing ability. The words just keep flying out without any regard for the people around them. Teaching middle school I have noticed that the kids are expected to have more responsibility and freedom but they drop the ball. Plenty of my students sit and talk about one another all the time. The only things that matter in the life of a middle school kid is what others think of them. The one opinion that should count the most counts the least… their own. At least when I was in school kids could get away from the harassment at home. Not so these days. With instant communication the comments can find the victim as fast as the bully can think them up. This is a big problem with no simple answer. I remember commercials for cell phones when I was young. In those days the slogan was “now you can change that meeting because your stuck in traffic.” These days it should be more like this… “now you can send a nasty and rude text so all of your victims friends can join in.” When kids are free to do as they please the end result is not always good.
ReplyDeleteGreat subject! I teach second grade, and I have a bully in my room. I wonder what she is going to be like when she reaches the 9th grade. I have secluded her away from the other students because of the stress she causes them throughout the day because she bosses and bullies them.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what can be done to stop students from bullying. You can teach a child not to bully; you can teach a child how to react to a bully. But after someone if bullied, the damage is done. Even if a punishment happens to the person doing the bullying, they still have accomplished their goal.
I find it difficult to stop bullying IN school, how would someone even begin stopping bullying OUT of school?
Jenna