Walkup's Way Home Bullying
    " There is a growing body of research which indicates that individuals, whether child or adult who are persistently subjected to abusive behaviour are at risk of stress related illness which can sometimes lead to suicide."
Dr. Mona O'Moore, Anti Bullying Center, Trinity College, Dublin
Learning Objectives
  • To understand what bullying is
  • To be able to spot/identify bullying in various forms of bullying as it occurs
  • To know what to do should bullying occur
  • To be a resource for others

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What is wrong with the following case study & what corrective measures should be taken?

Crying Chris angrily comes home from school stating, "I hate school.  I hate it.  I don't ever want to go back to school or on the bus"

Mom replies, "No, you don't hate school.  You have lots of friends and you're learning so much."

Chris says, I don't have any friends. Everybody has been picking on me for a long long time. they make fun of me. They call me 'Go to."

Mom, "Go to?"

"Yes, when the teacher knows somebody did something wrong, she comes to me. She knows I am a good boy and tells the truth. So she asks me 'Who talked , and  who did this?'"  The kids all hate me because I tell the truth. They tease me and make fun of me."

What is wrong with this scenario?

  1. This is bullying and bullying is illegal in schools.
    Bullying is defined as follows by the Connecticut General statutes:   Bullying is "any overt acts by a student or groups of students directed against another student with the intent to ridicule, humiliate, or intimidate the other student while on school grounds or at a school-sponsored activity, which acts are repeated against the same student over time."  
  2. Bullying is also illegal in busses  (and  school-sponsored activities).
  3. In our local school system, the mom should have already  heard about the bullying  (assuming the instructor noticed) from the school: "The school principal or his/her designee shall provide notice to parents/guardians of all students against whom verified acts of bullying were directed"
  4. Teachers should never single out children, placing them in a position that would subject them to bullying.  Discretion  is a must.  Students can be asked such questions privately. Prevention is key.

If this were my child, what corrective action would I want taken?

  1. I would demand a conference with the school personnel ASAP.
  2. I would want to know WHAT will be done and WHEN it will be done.
    If the answer is not satisfactory, the proper chain of command should be followed, from instructor, to principal, to superintendent, to school board....  
    The WHAT should seem to be a reasonable solution. The parents and school should feel comfortable that the corrective action will not backfire, make the situation worse, or further traumatize the child.
    The WHEN should be ASAP.  This week.
  3. If needed, I would want counseling to be made available, either through the school counselor, social worker, a community agency, or even a psychologist is the damage is severe enough.
  4. I would want the school ,faculty ,and staff  to be made aware of the situation and intervene when acts of bullying are witnessed
  5. I would demand that the appropriate disciplinary action to be taken for the perpetrators.
  6. I would request a copy of the school bullying policy.  I would want to made aware of all my rights, including the school transfer policy

More Information you should know:

  • Bullying is serious and should be corrected ASAP.
  • Read your local school's guidelines on bullying to learn what bullying consists of  (physical violence, name calling, threats, extortion, stealing of money, subtle coercion, such as manipulation, cyberbullying including email, cell phone text, instant messaging, blogs, web logs...)and what corrective measures the school system takes .
  • Research the topic. Wikipedia has excellent hyperlinked references at the end of its entries

Ethically Speaking:

  • Bullying affects everybody:  It can traumatize the affected child. It diminishes the perpetrators. It stains the reputation of the school and many times of those associated with it. 
  • Virtue Ethics: Never do anything which diminishes your character
  • Kantian Ethics: Each person must be treated with respect, as a kingdom of ends.
     

Resources

Some of the information on this page comes from  the Norwich Public Schools Policy for Bullying Behavior  Policy Number 5131.8, which I obtained on 4/3/07 from the Norwich Public Schools Office.. The policy  was updated on 4/22/03.

The policy cites the following source:
Connecticut General Statutes
P.A. 01-119, An Act Concerning Bullying Behavior in Schools SS 10-233a through 233f.