Monday, March 17, 2014

How Schools are Encouraging Bullying

My daughter has been bullied. She's only in second grade and seven years old, but she's already been bullied. Or maybe teased is a more apt term. Either way, the school she was attending turned a blind eye and even tried to make it seem as if she was having troubles socially, making friends, etc. This rang some bells for me as the same thing happened when I was in school. My parents even took me to a counselor who was teaching me how to make friends. Even at my young age, I quickly learned this was a bunch of hooey. Why was I having trouble making friends? It was simple. I was a nice person and kids were jerks.
They still are today.

I saw this story come across my news feed on Facebook. Basically this child (Grayson) brought a My Little Pony lunch sack to school because he likes the show. He was then teased and even physically bullied. Instead of addressing the bullying and trying to make it stop, the school asked Grayson not to bring the lunch sack to school because it "caused a disruption in the classroom."

This ridiculousness is what makes bullying keep getting worse and worse. What kind of message does this send to kids when they see the school respond in this manner? I'll tell you what it says to me. It says that if you are being an individual, expressing yourself, showing what you like, and some other kids don't like it, that they are in the right. It says that if kids are bullying and teasing you, that you are doing something wrong. You must be doing something wrong. There must be something wrong with you. It also says to the bullies. "Hey, go ahead and bully that kid who is different from you. The school officials will just tell them to stop being different."

This needs to stop. Now. Schools need to realize what they are doing when they make decisions like this. Do they not think these things through first? The best thing to do to get rid of bullies is to let them know that this bullying is not acceptable! How can we do this? Schools need to stop taking the bully's side! They need to realize that when a child is bullied for being different, the issue is not that the child is different. The issue is that the child was bullied. The first step is to let the parents know that the children are bullying so they can take steps to make it stop. We all know that this will not solve the problem in all cases. In fact, some parents may even encourage the bullies. If it doesn't stop the bullying, then the school needs to take further actions such as suspension or expulsion in extreme circumstances. They also need to listen to the victims and their parents and not belittle or discount what they say. My husband reported bullying brought up to him by our daughter and was told that she was "too sensitive". If a victim of bullying says they are being bullied, they are being bullied! No more of this "kids will be kids" stuff. I look at it this way. If I were at a job and I said someone was sexually harassing me, the employee relations department would look into it. Even if it was unfounded, they would still look into it. Shouldn't the schools operate in the same way with bullying? This is a huge issue and it will not be solved overnight, but the schools need to first stop blaming the victim and realize that they can't just turn a blind eye to bullies!

Speak out! If your child is bullied and the school tries to dismiss it, stand up for your kid! I know that most parents would do this without even being told, but this story is just all the more reason to do so! Don't let the schools bully you when your kid is bullied!

11 comments:

  1. Hi Risa. Thanks for posting this awesome article. My son is in 3rd grade and he started the year off being bullied. His situation was so severe, he was being ganged up on by two boys in the class. They were cursing and calling him racial slurs. It was absurd and I was treated very rudely by the vice principal of the school. It took my husband getting involved before the two boys were finally expelled from the school. They were physically violent and verbally abusive for months before it was brought to an end. I honestly think if my husband wouldn't have contacted the principal directly, the boys would still be in the school tormenting the children. It's so sad. We need more strong Moms like you! Thanks!

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    1. Thank you for your comments. I am sorry to hear about this situation. That's awful that it had to go so far before anything was done, but it's sad that this is often how things are. This definitely needs to change!

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  2. It's crazy to think that all of this Anti-Bullying and Bully Awareness days are happening, yet things such as this take place on a REGULAR basis. I also just heard a story the other day about a TEACHER calling a student "stupid" - and the parent had just happened to walk in as it was happening. I couldn't believe it. We as adults are to set examples for our kids. We all need to stand together against all types of bullying. Together we are stronger. Thank you so much for this post!

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    1. I hear stories like this quite often. I heard a story the other day about a teacher in Arizona who made a kid take off her shirt in class because he was yelling at the class and she hid her face in her shirt! What on earth? How do these people get to be teachers? Yes, it is definitely about leading by example and the teachers and parents need to show children a good example and that bullying is not ok!

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  3. I do think there are times, probably alot more than I am aware of, that schools have ignored or just not done as much as they could have when it comes to bullying. My now 12 year old son has bully issues when he was in 3rd grade and the teacher would tell me that they had spoke with the other parents time and time again. Finally after being called by the principal so many times I told the teacher that I was out of it and I had told my son that if anything happened again it would be ok for him to handle it as he wanted and he would not get in trouble at home. I did tell him that he would probably get in trouble at school but there was only so much I could do or he could do so I let him handle it. He wasn't supposed to be fighting at school obviously and in no other case would I condone it but no one was doing anything and this kid kept picking on him. The kid, for whatever reason, never did bother him again so I don't know if my son would have actually done anything or not but it is horrible when the school can only "do so much."

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    1. My husband says the same thing to our daughter. He says go to the teacher and tell them about it. If the teacher won't do anything, tell us. And then if it keeps happening after that, then you take care of it. He also tells her that is anyone ever lays their hands on her, she can fight back. This zero tolerance for fighting is messed up. Why should the child that is defending herself get in just as much trouble as the one who tried to beat her up? Doesn't the justice system in our adult world allow for self defense? Shouldn't it be that way in schools too?

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  4. Well said! If a child has the courage to tell someone that they are having a problem with bullying, the very least the school can do is look into it!

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  5. Kids bully cause they themselves have been bullied themselves most likely at home. Parents too are responsible in teaching our kids how unacceptable it is to be negative hateful ugly and rude to anyone. But we lead by example, and need to be contentious of how we speak and treat our kids and others. Thank u for sharing this. Sorry your child had to go through this.

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  6. We had a similar experience in our family. My daughter was bullied for over a year. No one in the school system wanted to do a thing about it. In fact, the girls' teacher actually told them they HAD to be friends. Really? Is that the magic cure?

    My daughter is now homeschooled and is getting amazing grades. Keep fighting the good fight!

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    1. That's awful! Sometimes I don't think school administrators really understand children or how their minds work. I'm glad your daughter is doing well now!

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  7. Hopefully you are able to work things out with your school for the well being of you daughter! Good luck!

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