School bullying: White House takes on bullying today. Does it belong on the federal agenda?
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan wants schools to pay more attention to all forms of bullying.
I dropped off my 11-year-old daughter at a middle school event recently. She was with a new friend who just moved to our town. As soon as we arrived, another girl walked up to my daughter’s new pal and announced, “Suzy Q in my social studies class does not like you.”
The poor kid was startled to hear that news and protested that she didn’t even know Suzy. It was a terrible way to greet a newcomer who was probably already concerned about fitting in at a new school, so I told the carrier of the bad news that I didn’t understand why she would pass on such information and that it sounded like Suzy had the problem.
At that point, my daughter jumped in and I was able to step back and let kid justice prevail.
But I had one thought: Kids can sure be mean to one another.
The White House agrees. “We’ve got to dispel the myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage, or an inevitable part of growing up. It’s not,” said President Obama. “We have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all of our kids. Every single young person deserves the opportunity to learn and grow and achieve their potential, without having to worry about the constant threat of harassment.”
While I agree that bullying is a problem, do we need the White House to put it on its agenda?
Today, Washington escalated its involvement in school bullying, sending out a “Dear Colleague” letters to 15,000 schools and districts and 5,000 colleges and universities explaining their legal obligations to protect students from student-on-student racial and national origin harassment, sexual and gender-based harassment, and disability harassment. The letter provides examples of harassment and illustrates how a school should respond in each case.
The letter puts schools on notice that they have a legal obligation to stop what U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called “a silent epidemic” during a telephone press conference just now. In the most egregious cases where higher ed institutions and k-12 schools ignore bullying, they could risk a loss of federal dollars, he warned.
The goal is to both help education institutions build on their bullying prevention programs and to wake up “the schools that have their heads in the sand,” said Duncan.
“If the federal government has to step in, it means that the problem was ignored for far too long,” said Duncan.
A federal censure would only come if adults and students allowed the bullying to continue without any checks. “There is no excuse for that,” said Duncan.
“Among the thousands of young people who kill themselves each year, we know that many of them have been harassed by bullies and no one came to their defense. As a country, we have to confront bullies,” said White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes, who was also on the media call.
“We think bullying should not exist,” said Duncan. “We need to work, all of us together as fast as we can, to eliminate this issue. Students cannot learn if they feel threatened, harassed or are in fear. Every adult in the building… must intervene and act when they see bullying for whatever reason. Students themselves have a an important responsibility to respect each other no matter what their differences in their backgrounds or their personal beliefs.”
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
82 comments Add your comment
gamom
October 26th, 2010
2:32 pm
Well Amen! So let’s address all kinds of bullying then – student on teacher, teacher on student, teacher on teacher, administration on teacher…..
k teacher
October 26th, 2010
3:10 pm
“they could risk a loss of federal dollars, he warned.” … sounds like bullying to me. Everything Washington does comes with the threat if you don’t play their way, they’re going to take your money.
What's Best for Kids?
October 26th, 2010
3:13 pm
Amen, k teacher. How about Arne actually saying that teachers can work together with community members and parents to end bullying. Instead, he threatens the schools. What a t_ _ l.
Tweets that mention The White House takes on bullying in a big way today. Does bullying belong on the federal agenda? | Get Schooled -- Topsy.com
October 26th, 2010
3:18 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Buffy Hamilton, Kerri Richardson and Anne Arriaga, Maureen Downey. Maureen Downey said: The White House takes on bullying in a big way today. Does bullying belong on the federal agenda? http://bit.ly/9crRVN [...]
APS Teacher
October 26th, 2010
3:27 pm
Wait- does this mean he is going to protect me from administrative bullying? Yippee!
Attentive Parent
October 26th, 2010
3:35 pm
That’s not a particularly accurate summary of today’s letter and the problem is that the only way to avoid liability will be to start having GLBT training and celebrations for all students as has happened in the UK.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/oct/26/gay-history-lessons-bullying-schools
Interesting timing as well.
Also if a religion has observers with common ethic characteristics harassing them is said to now violate federal civil rights laws.
This will certainly be a major victory for CAIR.
Kids are mean and now it’s a federal issue.
Realist
October 26th, 2010
3:59 pm
“White House takes on bullying today. Does it belong on the federal agenda?’
Considering that the president has screwed up everything……no.
WHERE ARE THE JOBS HE PROMISED TWO YEARS AGO?
Realist
October 26th, 2010
4:01 pm
The president isn’t going to have much of anything left after next week.
T. S. Cobb
October 26th, 2010
4:01 pm
School yard fights, lunch line pushing, and clique-ish behavior among girls is not bullying (annoying yes, but not bullying.) Bullying is sustained and continuing physical, emotional, or relational mis-behavior by a one person (child, adolescent, whichever) against another where the bully is in a position of power. This is a serious and dangerous situation that schools are usually capable of dealing with AS LONG AS PARENTS GET INVOLVED. As a long time educator, I cannot tell you how many “bullies” (including 12 year old girls) have bullying parents who will scream at you and threaten you will all sorts of mayhem. Not much a school can do about that. Polite social interaction is a thing of the past with many so-called “modern parents” who see any allegation made by the school against their child as as a causus belli. And you know what? Courts will not let you expel! Thanks lawyers; here’s anothere fine mess you’ve gotten us into.
Realist
October 26th, 2010
4:02 pm
“But I had one thought: Kids can sure be mean to one another.”
Gee, ya think?
Since government has never ever ever ever solved anything like this, tell us all how government will stop bullying?
Realist
October 26th, 2010
4:04 pm
If Obama wants to stop bullies, why is he afraid to go after Iran etc?
Teacher
October 26th, 2010
4:26 pm
Before the White House takes on school bullying, it should be prepared to take on BAD PARENTS!!!
@APS Teacher,
Funny, but so true!
thankateacher
October 26th, 2010
4:40 pm
Wow, realist, you have posted 4 times about Obama. Not obsessed are you? I thought this was a blog about education. Get with the program.
Attentive Parent
October 26th, 2010
4:55 pm
Parents might want to find out who Kevin Jennings is, why he was hired by the DoEd given his background, and what the implications of his prior activities are to what types of sensitivity training will now be required for schools and districts wanting to avoid liability for a student’s statements or biases.
I’m not going to provide links but you will likely be horrified with what comes up.
Julie Worley
October 26th, 2010
4:57 pm
U.S. Government officials cannot begin to have a serious conversation about school safety or bullying (”School bullying now a top federal priority” as stated by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on August 11, 2010 at the national summit on bullying) when school employees are legally allowed to hit students with wooden paddles to deliberately inflict physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering as punishment,(paddling, when done to a non-consenting adult constitutes sexual assault), already illegal in schools in 30 states! States such as Tennessee and North Carolina do not require parental consent or notification for students to be physically punished at school.
While the laws the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights enforces do not protect against harassment based on religious or sexual orientation, there are protections for students from religious groups that share ancestry or ethnic characteristics, as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students based on gender stereotypes.
Tolerating, not adequately addressing, encouraging or ignoring harassment based on race, color, disability, sex or national origin can indicate the violation of civil rights statutes. Education Secretary Arne Duncan sought to assure students that action will be taken. “No one should ever feel harassed or unsafe in a school simply because they act or think or dress differently than others,” Duncan said. “To every student who feels threatened or harassed, for whatever reason, please know that you are not alone. Please know that there are people who love you. And please know that we will protect you.”
The United States and one lone state in Australia are the only parts of the industrialized world that allow students as young as FOUR to be hit with a wooden paddle in schools. (Corporal punishment may have been abolished in 30 states, but it’s still legal in 20 states, routinely practiced in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee.) This is one thoroughly shameful and shaming practice. It’s an egregious form of adult bullying. And we call it discipline.
For a real education of what is really happening to our children in our tax-payer funded schools simply type “A Violent Education” and “School is Not Supposed to Hurt” into an internet search engine to review recent shocking reports.
Please don’t allow our children’s fundamental human rights to be Politicized.
Please urge your U.S. Congress Rep. to Co-Sponsor/Support H.R. 5628 “Ending Physical/Corporal Punishment in Schools Act”
Realist
October 26th, 2010
4:59 pm
“Wow, realist, you have posted 4 times about Obama. Not obsessed are you? I thought this was a blog about education. Get with the program.’
You must have missed the headline, genius. It says WHITE HOUSE TAKES ON BULLYING….
Hmmmmm, how could I ever have thought to bring Obama into this discussion.
Go sell stupid somewhere else.
November
October 26th, 2010
5:00 pm
Oh c’mon folks, do you really think legislation is gonna solve an issue that’s been around since time immemorial? This is just more government interference in our lives……if we don’t do something about the meddling NOW, we’re gonna regret it in a few years and then say…..”why didn’t we recognize that meddling was the problem, not bullying”? Remember to vote responsibly on November 2nd
Realist
October 26th, 2010
5:01 pm
“I thought this was a blog about education.’
I hope you’re not a teacher, if so you must have terrible reading comprehension skills. The blog is about BULLYING in schools.
catlady
October 26th, 2010
5:01 pm
If the President’s action allows schools to take severe action against students and their parents who continue to bully, it will be worth it. If he wants to make a difference, he could empower courts to severely fine or jail the parents of bullies, and move the procedure along. The schools don’t “ignore” the problem, but they have been left powerless to do anything because no one backs them up, no one protects the schools from being harassed by the bully’s parents.
Of course, if schools are going to be a bully-free zone, teachers need to have recourse against bullying administrators.
Realist
October 26th, 2010
5:03 pm
“Please don’t allow our children’s fundamental human rights to be Politicized. ”
Children don’t have rights.
catlady
October 26th, 2010
5:04 pm
Mrs. Downey, any statement from Mr. Wilson yet? Did he mean “tomorrow” as in Tuesday, or “tomorrow” as to when h3ll freezes over?
Realist
October 26th, 2010
5:06 pm
catlady
That is the absolute dumbest thing I’ve read today. Bully-free zones?????? There is no way schools can prosecute parents/bullies like you suggest. If you think schools are underfunded now, just wait until parents start pulling their kids out in record numbers.
Realist
October 26th, 2010
5:07 pm
“If he wants to make a difference, he could empower courts to severely fine or jail the parents of bullies, and move the procedure along. ”
Yeah, I’d like to see Obamao try and do that.
yes they do
October 26th, 2010
5:17 pm
Yes children have rights…they are called human rights…
yes they do
October 26th, 2010
5:18 pm
Children do have rights…they are known as human rights…and in fact childrens rights should be protect more than any other group…
Maureen Downey
October 26th, 2010
5:31 pm
@Realist, I don’t think the government can stop it, especially since research suggests that most bullying does not happen in view of adults. However, I think government can make schools pay more attention to it and perhaps offer more guidance to kids about the issue. Maureen
RGB
October 26th, 2010
5:33 pm
“We think bullying should not exist,” said Duncan. And they say there are no sharp knives in the drawer at the White House.
If we could only get Prezbo to say “We think unemployment [or deficit spending, or intractable indebtedness] should not exist” then we’d be in business.
Realist
October 26th, 2010
5:38 pm
“Yes children have rights…they are called human rights…’
Looks like someone was educated in a public school.
Realist
October 26th, 2010
5:39 pm
“However, I think government can make schools pay more attention to it”
How, by bullying the school systems?
markie mark
October 26th, 2010
5:41 pm
as the victim of bullying when I was growing up, I hated that I was bullied while teachers stood 15 yards away and DID NOTHING. And this was in 1973, when most parents were still involved. It was not till my parents went to the school and raised 80 kinds of hell that they got involved. However, then the bullying started taking place walking home off school grounds. So the truth is, there is not a lot the schools/teachers can do in the real world. But I still believe if it had been “nipped in the bud” when I was the new kid at school, it would not have taken hold and would have ended earlier…..
bootney farnsworth
October 26th, 2010
5:41 pm
so the bully in chief (Obama to latinos – punish your enemies) wants to weigh in on bullying?
that man has really lost his mind.
there is nothing at all to support any concept that Federal interference would do anything at all to stop it.
now, the gov’t can say it’ll treat those little thugs like the
predators they are – instead of offering up excuse after excuse
for their behavior
bootney farnsworth
October 26th, 2010
5:43 pm
try this instead.
teach your children self defense.
nothing stops bullies faster than getting their
asses whipped.
bootney farnsworth
October 26th, 2010
5:45 pm
children do not have rights.
neither do pets, brussel sprouts, and waterfalls
markie mark
October 26th, 2010
5:46 pm
@bootney….I have seen this response on blogs before….and its crap. When 4 kids jump the new guy, self defense aint gonna hack it. I know from first hand experiance. I fought my butt off, and lost. And these days, try nailing someone with a rock, a limb, etc. You will find yourself in jv court so fast it will make you head spin. Great theory though, if you can guarantee a one on one situation.
markie mark
October 26th, 2010
5:48 pm
and the older kids get, the bullying becomes more psychological, just screwing with them all day long…you cant fight with fists that type of day after day harassment….
bootney farnsworth
October 26th, 2010
5:54 pm
markie,
sorry, but nice try.
I’m not talking about duking it out. I’m talking about learning how
to fight correctly. most fools have no idea how to throw an effective punch, how to identify targets, and how to bring somebody down hard with
very little effort.
and you become a better person who radiates a level of self confidence
that makes you less of a target.
if you live like a victim, you’ll be one.
Attentive Parent
October 26th, 2010
5:56 pm
It’s the school or the district that will be deemed the violator because of a student’s behavior.
The only defense will be to show how much sensitivity training your staff has been put through and how you now have these books and these films being taught or shown in the classroom.
It may be your 10 and 11 year old children watching the Adventures of Priscilla at school and then discussing transvestites and transsexuals with the teacher.
Because of the way the federal civil rights laws work and the need for affirmative defenses to protect against harassment claims, this expansive, unprecedented interpretation of Title VI and IX means that schools will now have to go out of their way to be seen as celebrating the GLBT culture and Islam, Hindu, Sikhs, etc.
How precisely will a school show it has fostered sensitivity about its Muslim or Jewish students?
This is a breathtakingly stunning intrusion by the feds into every classroom and every school.
What’s your recourse now?
bootney farnsworth
October 26th, 2010
5:57 pm
straight from Hollywood
learn to fight so you don’t have to fight.
if you can’t trust Ralph Macchio, who can you trust?
bootney farnsworth
October 26th, 2010
5:59 pm
@AT
I like Pricilla, its funny,. but it is NOT for middle school children and it has no value beyond being funny.
the recourse is simple. and the process begins Tuesday
rosie
October 26th, 2010
6:13 pm
Will teachers be mandated to get training on this stuff? Just one more thing we don’t have time to do. Give me a break. Duncan has his head in the sand if he thinks we don’t deal with this everyday. I’m sure people working in a school could give him some pointers. Has Mr. Duncan worked in a school?
Teacher I would like to stand up and applaud you for suggesting Obama address parents first.
RGB thanks for suggesting Obama and his staff get as concerned about unemployment.
David S
October 26th, 2010
6:24 pm
Certainly it does. Currently the White House condones the bullying of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, China, Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon, and any other country that doesn’t immediately bend over for our empire. The White House also bullies individuals through the TSA, the CIA, the FBI, the IRS and other agencies. It also condones and orders the illegal and immoral torture of individuals without due process. The president has also said that he reserves the right to order the summary execution of american citizens abroad whenever he feels like it without due process.
The White House certainly should speak out against bullying. There is no better expert on the subject. Would I be making a racial remark if I said that this was the pot calling the kettle black???
Really amazed
October 26th, 2010
6:24 pm
It starts with the parents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let the teachers teach already. I truly feel for all of you teachers! Thank you for STILL doing what you do! I can’t even to think about what you go through each and everyday.
Delusional democrats
October 26th, 2010
6:24 pm
“Teacher I would like to stand up and applaud you for suggesting Obama address parents first.”
HAHAHAHAAHAHA
Al
October 26th, 2010
6:24 pm
Will the next step for Obama be to threaten loss of federal money if my son does not put up the toilet seat at school? I guess thing about Obama which drives me crazy is how he thinks (no knows) he is the smartest person in the whole wide world. He is just a two bit bully from gangland Chicago. He needs to take the train home. Quite sure the Public will buy him a one way ticket at the next election
Attentive Parent
October 26th, 2010
6:49 pm
The behavior of the children in Maureen’s story and most of the bullying descriptions here would not be subject to federal law. Have to be a member of a protected group and the behavior has to be impugning the student as a member of that group.
This is yet another attempt by the feds to dictate what gets taught in US classrooms.
Just another example of he current “coordinated transformational effort” in US education to get around that pesky problem of being established as a decentralized, federal system.
You don’t like something now-you can go to the principal, the school board or even the Sloppey Floyd buildings.
With Prof devt, curriculum, assessments, and definitions of harassment being set in DC, you’re stuck.
120
October 26th, 2010
7:01 pm
I actually had some respect for Arne Duncan but now I’m not so sure. He’s just reacting to the news headline du jour, pandering to the segment of the population that feeeels the government should protect us from everything. What’s Arne gonna do, put FBI agents in every school to keep the kiddies from being mean to each other? Gimme a break.
Jessica
October 26th, 2010
7:07 pm
Bullying is a serious issue that should be handled by LOCAL school officials and LOCAL law enforcement, but it should NOT be on the President’s agenda. Our federal government would be more effective if it would stay focused on things like the economy and national security.
another comment
October 26th, 2010
7:14 pm
I have already e-mailed the cheerleading coach this week, about the repeated bullies on the cheerleading squad. This is not the first time I have done this. These girls are suppose to set an example, but when you see the ghetto mothers you know they never will be.
Tamika
October 26th, 2010
7:15 pm
I don’t get why some classes of kids who get bullied should get special protection under the law. Is it ok to bully a child from one religion but not another? One race but not another? One orientation but not anther? How about we focus on ALL bullying?
I don’t understand why the President would be involved in a local matter. It makes no sense for federal oversight. However, I think that local schools and school boards should be paying attention. if the schools don’t get this fixed, parents will involve themselves like the dad of the CP student in Fla.
ScienceTeacher671
October 26th, 2010
8:00 pm
This is sort of like hate crimes legislation – it really shouldn’t matter why someone does wrong, just whether or not they do.
That said, there has always been bullying, and always will be. When we were children, no one knew about GLBT orientations, so there was not much bullying on that regard, other than some boys were considered “sissies”…also, I think there was more civility overall, and if you got in trouble at school or on the street, your parents would punish you worse instead of defending you and attacking whoever had corrected you. Those are the differences I see.
Maureen Downey
October 26th, 2010
8:12 pm
@catlady, Just posted his response.
Maureen
catlady
October 26th, 2010
8:13 pm
Realist: Glad to give you a wonderful moment in what must be a very dull life.
I am guessing you don’t teach. And, to follow up on your “fear”, I wouldn’t mind a bit if the parents of bullies pulled them out of school. Then we might get on with teaching.
I think part of our problem is that every time two children disagree about anything, one parent is going to call “bully”. I have seen it overused, myself. It is frustrating, however, when you cannot get anything done about the bully because the administration is scared of its shadow.
Also (I know you won’t believe this) but there are kids who cry bully whenever they get caught doing something. A previous bully incident (which no one saw) “caused” them to bully the other kid. They were just “sticking up for themselves” as their parents taught them to. It rings pretty hollow, however, when it is same kid over and over, and the kids who are supposedly bullying him are handicapped or scared of their own shadows.
Hope you have a good laugh over this.
catlady
October 26th, 2010
8:15 pm
Mrs. Downey: Thanks. Well, it IS still Tuesday, for a little longer, so I guess he made it under the wire!
Former Lakeview Parent
October 26th, 2010
8:20 pm
I paid 24k a year so my child could be a victim to the teacher’s kids. The teachers always know when its happening, they condone it or chose to look the other way
Ray
October 26th, 2010
8:21 pm
Yeah, this is much worse than when the last White House needlessly sent thousands of our graduates to die in the Iraq debacle.
The ajc continues as an accomplice in the republican war on public education….
November
October 26th, 2010
8:44 pm
markie mark
October 26th, 2010
5:46 pm
@bootney….I have seen this response on blogs before….and its crap. When 4 kids jump the new guy, self defense aint gonna hack it. I know from first hand experiance. I fought my butt off, and lost. And these days, try nailing someone with a rock, a limb, etc. You will find yourself in jv court so fast it will make you head spin. Great theory though, if you can guarantee a one on one situation.
So, markie mark….what you’re proposing is to run home to mommy with your tail tucked between your legs and say……”mommy, please make them quit”…..so you lost….did you ever fall off your bicycle? Naw, you probably had training wheels forever. And it’s not crap to defend yourself. Bullying has been going on forever…..!!!!! Remember to vote November 2nd
Dr. John Trotter
October 26th, 2010
8:51 pm
MACE doesn’t like the bullying either…especially the bullying administrators who render a deaf ear when kids are being bullied. The bullying administrators are really weasels and are afraid of the student-bullies, but they sure do like to bully the teachers.
Dekalbite
October 26th, 2010
8:59 pm
Please read “Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls” by Rachel Simmons. You will find that girls don’t have to do anything to be disliked. It has to do with socialization within the group and the control the group establishes. This should be mandatory reading for any parent of a girl.
Democrats are trash
October 26th, 2010
9:13 pm
Ray
Your current Sec of State and VP sent the kids off to war. Get your head out of your a$$ and grow up.
Ken Trump
October 26th, 2010
9:35 pm
The untold story on the federal “bullying” craze is one about politics, civil rights agendas, and political pressures on the Obama Administration by special interest groups (especially gay rights advocates). There has been strong lobbying by special interests with social and political agendas to get civil rights bills passed under the guise of “anti-bullying” laws. My research ( http://www.schoolsecurityblog.com/tag/civil-rights-and-school-safety/ ) has found the politics behind the scenes to be intense, yet completely out of view of most educators and parents who simply want to see bullying concerns addressed.
Ken Trump
National School Safety and Security Services
td
October 26th, 2010
9:58 pm
This is just going to be another failed initiative by the federal government that takes away critical money for the classroom. The only people that will be successful with these new regulations are the lawyers. They will sue every school in the country and make tons of money (by taking away the money from the schools). I can see another Zero tolerance policy being set up that says if you look at a student in a way that the student feels threatened then you are a bully and must be suspended from school.
td
October 26th, 2010
10:00 pm
BTW: When are people going to learn that the government(school systems) can not solve the human behavior problems in America.
Gratitude to AJC & concerned citizen
October 27th, 2010
2:22 am
Bullying is a sociological problem in schools affecting teachers, students, and parents which has reached an epidemic level. To appropriately address bullying, one has to understand the facts of recent empirical research on bullying: Administrators bully teachers 20% of the time (See research by tenured educational professors Drs. Joseph and Josephine Blase at UGA). Teachers, by their own self-reporting, admit to bullying students 43% of the time (See 2006 research study by Dr. Temlow at The Menniger Clinic in Houston, TX). Teenagers admit to bullying other students 50% of the time (USA Today–Oct. 26, 2010 p. 1A) and bullying done on students by students is about 77% of the time (See US Bully Police website). Note the ratio of bullying to those in the school population of administrators:teachers:students or 20%:43%:77% considering just how many administrators, teachers, and students there are in a given school (i.e. There are more students than teachers and more teachers than administrators in a given school). As you can see the bullying is an overarching problem in the school milieu which creates a hostile environment for all and can be identified as existing with administrators, with a known power differential bullying those below them thereby creating a culture for bullying to manifest and to continuously recycle. To have even a better understanding of bullying and the use of power by inappropriate leadership, one may want to examine the Lucifer Effect Study done at Standford University which basically states that if those in charge misuse their power to do cruel acts, and reinforce those cruel acts with blind eye to others doing them as well, you not only create a hostile environment, but one that quickly escalates into becoming unsafe for those in it under the control of such nefarious leadership. What quickly happens in such an environment of nefarious leadership, is that those who also have power begin mirroring the leader, and very suddenly they loose their moral footing and also engage in such egregious and dangerous acts as well–. It may be important to note that The Lucifer Effect Study had to conclude early for fear of harm for its participants as under such construct of nefarious leadership, harm began to quickly escalate–such an event is not a frequent occurrence in controlled psychological studies.
What this research points to is that to better address bullying in schools, what we have to do is examine those adults in charge of the schools who have the power differential, misuse their power to hurt others,and thereby create hostile school environments where such behavior is learned and recycled: Students are just bystanders watching and learning what they see adults doing and also are experiencing bullying in the schools from powerful adults 43% of the time and/or are bystanders to the adult to student bullying. Student behavior is essentially a learned behavior being taught to them by adults in an educational atmosphere. This may be why so many times administrators deflect their bullying and project it as a student-student issue, evade bullying in schools, put up gilded anti-bullying posters, and claim the fame of having anti-bullying programs as a front, because they recognize for the bullying to stop, it would mean essentially that they would have to stop their misuses of power of bullying teachers, parents, and students too: They don’t want to loose that “edge” of power differential as somehow they too have been conditioned to think they need to use power inappropriately in order to “control” their school: Blinded by narcissim, administrators forget it is not “their” school to “control”, but an establishment of learning to be “managed” for the benefit of the larger community for which they are to “serve.”
This may possibly explain why the federal government is taking a stand because those who should be protecting with their administrative powers are not, and instead are ignoring such school violence, misusing their powers to create hostile environments for personal gain, and such administrators are further not being held accountable as those structures of local level government and/or even state levels of government, which are to hold them accountable, are often times just as corrupt (How many times do we see those in a state department of education being run by old school administrators.?…Isn’t the federal government investigating CRCT scandals in GA” due to the “inefficiencies” of the state to conduct their own self-investigations?…).
Unlike other states, such issues of school violence and misuse of power are compounded in Georgia because administrators and teachers can and do use corporal punishment on students, administrators act as “parentis in locis” which means they act as guardians of the children during the day and believe such role replaces that of the parent as guardian, teachers and administrators have immunity, all means of reporting child abuse in schools are biased as all means to report child abuse–be they DFACS, Professional Standards Commission, and/or local police— streamline reports of child abuse back to the school districts’ human resource department for self-investigations often times to be conducted by those not licensed or trained as social workers, counselors, and/or law enforcement officers to adequately investigate and many times school districts ignore and do not investigate allegations of child abuse at all as to snuff out any potential for enforcement which would make the school look bad and create potential law suits against a school district, and NCLB demands that children go to school even if the school is hostile and dangerous and administrators and districts threaten parents with the loss of their children by reporting to the authorities if they do not return their children to school to the hands of their abusers or bullies (keep in mind high rates of truancy are often attributed to students being bullied at school by students and/or teachers and/or administrators): The loss of a student attendance jeopordized by truancy can equate to loss of federal and state allocated education dollars: Schools hardly care about the child as long as they can force attendance to get the child’s FTE tax money for each child as lowered FTE means less tax allocated dollars for the school and as well truancy and poor attendance compromises the school being placed on failing to make AYP ,all of course which reflect poorly on the school administrator and school district…
Under such constructs of unchecked power at both local and state levels and where parents, who have exhausted all means within the system only learn they are circling the wagon, and further who could could be at risk for retaliation by the administrators and district, it may become necessary for the federal government to get involved to make sure the school allows for student safety, FAPE; (fair appropriate public education), and where monitoring, reporting, investigation for child abuse, as well as enforcement can be done if necessary.
In short to stop the violence, harassment, bullying, and abuse found in schools, such abuses have to be stopped by those at the top. Those at the top, engaging in such nefarious acts with unchecked power at the expense of others, prohibits a positive and safe learning atmosphere for students and pleasant work place for the teachers…the Lucifer’s Effect is enticing to those at the top…..and it needs to be stopped even if you need to make a federal case about it.
Joyce Holton Crawford
October 27th, 2010
4:58 am
Read DON’T CALL ME MICHAEL, a children’s chapter book about bullying, friendship, and forgiveness. Kids can relate to the characters in this book. Teachers can lead discussions about bullying incidents in their schools and kids can discuss what is happening and what they can do about bullies. Read comments made by Superintendent of Humboldt, Iowa, Community Schools at joyceholtoncrawford.weelby.com. Mr. Darling desribes how using this book in grades 2 – 8 had a positive effect on conflicts in his schools.
Good for the White House that they are helping to keep bullying in the forefront of media issues.
Attentive Parent
October 27th, 2010
6:12 am
Again most bullying will not be affected by this overgrasping by the DoEd because it does not involve protected groups. Schools and districts can protect against bullying now against all individuals if they wish.
This expansive interpretation of the civil rights laws is designed consciously to make certain groups extra-special so that schools and districts have to show how they have gone out of their way in the classroom and in staff meetings and prof devt to honor the GLBT community and to show how much Islam is to be respected.
If your child is being harassed for being a straight-laced Christian goody 2 shoes for example, there’s no civil rights case because there’s no common racial or ethnic characteristics consistent to Christianity.
This is the same Office of Civil Rights that has decided to use the widely discredited disparate impact analysis to find discriminatory intent and civil rights violations when the percentage of students in honors and AP classes is disproportionate to enrollment.
It’s all about identity politics, not harassment or discrimination.
DC intends to control all aspects of what and how your child is taught both in K-12 and higher ed in the public sector.
If anything I’ve said sounds too incredible to be true, let me know. I can provide multiple definitive links to support all of it.
East Cobb Parent
October 27th, 2010
7:42 am
This is an easy one, Obama needs to stick to running the country not the local schoolyard.
Dr NO
October 27th, 2010
8:01 am
Perhaps the economy, foreign affairs, Govt fraud, domestic affairs etc might take precadent over such a lackluster issue? Then again Obama cant get anything right so concentrating on the miniscule issues might be his forte’.
Free Market Champion
October 27th, 2010
9:21 am
In private school they throw the bully out. In a free market, politics would not play games with the problem, the market would address the problem or customers would be lost. Also, the problem would be dealt with as a crime of violence, not one about “feelings.”
Attentive Parent
October 27th, 2010
9:33 am
This letter was sent out to public and private K-12 schools, public and private colleges and universities, and all 15,000 school district superintendents.
That’s not about bullying. It’s about the federal government sending the message out that certain students are to get extra special treatment and you need to be taking affirmative steps to show us how you are implementing this policy of special treatment.
Rose
October 27th, 2010
12:01 pm
Different subject: I have a weak stomach don’t like all that goury, yukie look for Halloween snacks, what are some good food/snacks to serve at a family style Halloween gathering
Something's Been Left Out Here
October 27th, 2010
12:08 pm
Bullying of students for being the “wrong” ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. was mentioned, but what about kids who are physically disfigured? Who will protect THEM? Can someone amswer that???
Free Market Champion
October 27th, 2010
12:18 pm
The fact that parents firmly believe that they can just put their children onto a bus or drop them off at an establishment run by the government that they have not consciously chosen through a careful process of consideration of alternatives and have everything be ok just shows how naive and trusting the citizens of this country are. There are NO successful government programs and NO government programs with ANY accountability for their failures.
Every private business must be accountable in a free and competitive marketplace (which we don’t have).
Homeschooled children only suffer from the potential bullying of their siblings or their emotionally stunted parents (but that goes on in addition to government school bullying if they are forced into that situation as well).
Really, simple question, when have you ever seen a government program or institution use the mechanism of politics to successfully solve ANY problem??? But keep hoping. Miracles, I am told, do happen.
Meanwhile the bullying continues (and the folks who are being looked to for salvation are the greatest bullies in society).
HS Public Teacher
October 27th, 2010
12:23 pm
What a hot potato – or is it potatoe? LOL! JK
Any solution to the student bullies needs to include a penalty for the parents.
Ann Anomous
October 27th, 2010
12:39 pm
Bullying is everywhere. It does not go away as these kids grow up and become adult bullies. Walnut Grove School, in Gwinnett County, Georgia, is a school where two administrators bully the teachers. There is also one first grade teacher in particular who bullies her co-workers by lying about them, writing her unsubstantiated “medical” opinion about them, and in her own words, “Doing whatever I have to to others so I can fly under the radar of the principal”. This school’s staff cannot possibly be expected to combat bullying when it comes directly from the top down. Bullying in schools HAS to stop, but it also has to start with the administration and staff first.
shaggy
October 27th, 2010
12:53 pm
This will never entirely go away, until we all get in a circle holding hands to sing kumbayah. However I do know what will help.
Instead of focusing on TV, popularity, celebrity culture, etc… instill value in kids that inspire them to believe in themselves and go to school to learn how to be a doctor, astronaut, scientist, etc… You know, something that actually matters.
I know this would take actual parenting, instead of so-called parents, being little Johnny’s “friend”, and that would mean responsibility for your kid. I know that is a tall order for those like the Kennesaw so-called parents, who put their kid in a Porsche Boxter, where he promptly killed himself and severely injured others, only to wonder “why, oh why, it’s not my fault, we were friends”. Those morons should have gone to prison for accessory to manslaughter.
John
October 27th, 2010
1:14 pm
Taking on bullying is not constitutional. Kids are kids. The parent lets it happen so the kid gets bolder and bolder. TV and movies make bullying cool. Big and mean equals respect. Decent means you are worth almost nothing except what the bully can get from you. Decent people need to stand up to bullys of all ages.
jwr
October 27th, 2010
1:31 pm
Absolutely the parents let is happen! Half of them were bullies themselves…is it any wonder they condone or even encourage their kids to be bullies?
The answer is simple: the federal government should not only strip federal funding from school systems that don’t stop bullying, but charge school board members, administrators and teachers in federal court when they fail to stop bullying that meets the standard of violating a person’s civil rights. Give them a federal conviction and a fine commensurate with their level of responsibility. I bet the threat of a year in jail and a $100,000 fine will get the attention of a school board member, no matter how much parents think bullying is okay.
Horse doesn’t want to drink once you lead him to water? Stick a tube down his throat.
Bullying will be easy to stop. We just need to overrule the parents who were (and still are…just watch a soccer game) bullies themselves.
Archie B.@Arkham Asylum
October 27th, 2010
4:16 pm
“We has met the enemy and they is us!” -Pogo
Teacher-Mom in Cobb
October 27th, 2010
8:34 pm
Anything that brings attention to this problem is welcome. Kids can be so mean, and teens don’t always have the ability to brush it off. Raising awareness and lowering tolerance are both steps in the right direction.
Tweets that mention School bullying: White House takes on bullying today. Does it belong on the federal agenda? | Get Schooled -- Topsy.com
October 28th, 2010
3:23 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by djsartin, Ashley Burleson. Ashley Burleson said: School bullying: White House takes on bullying today. Does it belong on the federal agenda? http://ow.ly/313bj #stopbullying [...]
mytwopence
October 29th, 2010
1:33 am
This is a reflection of the pampering by U.S. laws for children, who get away with any and everything. Nobody can tell them anything, let alone whip them, for fear of the legal system. So now we have children empowered to bully pears, teachers, parents and any and everybody who would dare cross their paths! At least the White House is FINALLY realising one aspect of it!
Ole Guy
October 30th, 2010
2:10 pm
People…believe it or not, like it or not, agree with it or not…we live in a world dominated by the concept of “survival of the fittest”. That’s fittest, not in terms of brawn, but in terms of mental/psychological agility. Somehow, these characteristics, in past generations, were borne of the byproducts of real achievements, not the psuedo achievements which eminate from grade inflation, dumbed down academics, and the constant rewarding of the most miniscule accomplishments.
While bullying is certainly nothing new, it has only been propagated by an educational culture which has not the spheroids to properly educate kids. Too afraid of displeased parents, and too afraid of unfavorable political backlash, we, the adults in kids’ lives, have only ourselves to blame for the current out-of-control state of the “bully culture”.
Like many issues which have gone awry within the educational camp, nothing will change until we commit to doing the unpleasant, unpopular, and difficult things…yes, even the politically unsavory things. First and foremost…ALLOW TEACHERS COMPLETE AUTONOMY IN MANAGING CLASSROOMS. Give them unquestioned support in their decisions. Until that happens, look for absolutely nothing to evolve from all the thrashing about to which we seem to subject ourselves in attempting to find solutions.