‘It’s No Longer Good Enough to Tell Kids It Gets Better. CALL THE COPS ON BULLIES’

Many states have protection from stalking statutes that would cover bullying behavior.  Unfortunately, I have had to issue those orders on behalf of many students who were “different” for example, autistic or physically challenged as well as presumed to be gay.  The school will then call  and seemed surprised the family took this action.  My response usually starts with, “well, if you handle the situation in school I suspect the student would not have sought redress through the courts.”

They might trying using the counselors before things happen, and not after.  It could mean the difference between preventing a tragedy, or trying to mop up its after effects.
 I volunteered in a school that was comfortably middle class, with a small segment of ESL (English as a Second Language) kids who, besides being part of another denigrated subculture (mostly Mexican immigrants) were also among the very small segment of the population of the school who were not well financially well off, something immediately apparent, just by clothing.”Poor kids, I’ll bet they have a hard time with the other students,” I mentioned to the ESL teacher.”Not at all,” she said.  Mrs. Mercandante, the guidance counselor, is wonderful.  She has all different ways to get all the kids to mingle, including a lunchtime small group program called “Friendship Soup.” With her activities, kids play together who might not otherwise have known one another; and she was teaching them a large truth in a small way: that’s it’s very easy to dismiss entire groups of people, but if you just get to know people, one on one, it goes a long way towards melting prejudice.This past year, when the oldest kids were reading to move on to middle school, a couple of them found that they would be attending a different middle school, because of districting.  One of the children, is a boy who I would say would have been a prime candidate for being bullied; especially when he cried upon hearing the news.  In this school, though, the rest of the class cried along with him, boys included.

A local school board candidate in that district had questioned the need for a full time guidance counselor in elementary schools.  He doesn’t realize that’s the time when they’ll do the most good, when the children can still be reached easily.  If they start teaching them tolerance, friendship and acceptance along with their alphabets; these qualities won’t be lessons learned, but a part of them.Wait until high school, or even middle school, and it’s mostly doing damage control. 

Absofuckin’lutely!  If they wanna’ be criminals and commit harassment and assault, then treat them like criminals.

Sharing.  Now.  As someone who’s about to spend at least some time teaching in the public schools, I can’t promise that I’ll start every sub assignment by outing myself to the kids.  But, I vow now never to run from the subject when it comes up, just as I haven’t run from it for a decade.  And I vow NOT to allow bullying of any sort to happen under my watch.

Three days suspension?  He should be prosecuted for assult.  Maybe some time as a fish would teach hilm a little about bullying.

1 Kid is 1 to many!!!