quote:

ORIGINAL: Kaliko
...But taking it down to a child in a school system, you're... talking about the ability to provide the same educational environment for all within a school. If a child has insults hurled at him as he walks into school, then his ability to learn is hampered by reaction to something that's happening within the school's control and is directed solely at him.

...So these are two different things. The world...and the school.

quote:

ORIGINAL: metamorfosis
Well, at the risk of sounding argumentative again, I have to disagree. This isn't a question of the world versus the school, it's a question of the weak versus the strong. What I mean is... college students may attend school, but they are not protected from bullying. The difference is their age and, consequently, their supposed level of mental and emotional fitness. Likewise, children are legally protected from verbal abuse not only at school but at home as well. The elderly are protected, the disabled are protected. Minorities are protected against abuses of power by management, and by society. In short, many who are especially vulnerable and at high risk for being bullied... are being legally protected from it.

Pam

quote:

Sardoni said her daughter is upset and nervous about going to school Monday. She said she’s considering sending her daughter to a new school but knows for sure that the girl won’t be taking the bus anymore.

“It’s crazy that this got blown into me doing something wrong — me and my family — when this is my daughter that is the victim,” Sardoni told the AP.

Sardoni said she took matters into her own hands after school officials ignored complaints that her daughter, who is also in fourth-grade, had been verbally and physically bullied by four students.

quote:

I suppose this might be one way of dealing with bullying.

quote:


There's a knock on the door of the 9B auditorium. They're about halfway through a language class. Outside, the main teacher. When they see him, they stand up straight. He has that effect on people†. They realize there has to be an important reason why he's interrupting another teacher's courses.

«I'll be speaking with Aaron, Peter, Lisa, Ingrid, Gary and Tina. Join me in the conference room right away.»

The named students exchange puzzled looks, get up and leave the class.

«Be seated,» the main teacher says as they enter the conference room, «and listen closely.»

«Elsa wasn't in school yesterday. Nor today. She's at home. She's too upset to turn up. I just got off the phone with her mother, who tells me she's been like this the whole semester.» The students look from the teacher to each other and back. This isn't news to them. «Elsa isn't turning up, because she can't handle being here. She hates it.» he says, «This is your responsibility.»

«Us? But we've never...» Lisa starts, but is quickly cut off.

«No, no... none of you have been bullying Elsa. You're not the ones making fun of her in class, pushing her around, mocking her appearance and so forth. That's Ron and Edgar. No, your fault lies with not doing anything to stop it. The one thing you all have in common is that you're the most respected pupils in the class, whether for your athletics, your grades or just your popularity. There are none more powerful than you in that class. But you choose only to bask in it, when you could use it to stop Elsa from being bullied by those that need someone weaker than themselves to pick on. You don't use it to secure her a place in this class.» he says, «It's pathetic, really, and I'm disappointed in you.»

The students avert their eyes, uneasy now.

«I expect you to behave responsibly. Starting now.» he says, pounding the table for emphasis, «I want the six of you to sort things out and put a stop to this. And you'll do so without telling anyone about this conversation. It stays between us, and may the gods have mercy on your souls if I hear so much of a peep of this outside this room.»

A few days later, in a class, Edgar has pushed a weak teacher into having Elsa read a piece for the class. She's blushing furously and stuttering, unable to say a word. Ron laughs out loud while shaking his head. Then Aaron, the number one jock in the class, gets up. Turns around, pointing at Ron. «You, fuckwit! You shut your trap. We clear?»

Ron shuts up good. He's got the message, in words he can understand, by an authority he can relate to.

The small group of pupils from the conference room never talked about their encounter with a man they respected and listened to. They just try to influence things where they can. The pressure on Elsa diminishes, bit by bit, but the pupils aren't particularly proud. The rest of their lives, they wish they'd shouldered their share of the burden sooner.

I know this, because I was in the conference room that day. I sat there and listened to a now legendary teacher that the whole class respected deeply and sincerely, as he awakened us to our responsibilities after that semester of neglect on our part. I've thought about it many times since, the method. Simple, yet surprisingly effective. You don't easily forget such a reminder, and it does something about how you view responsibility the rest of your life.

Elsa may thank him that her burden diminished over time. But those of us in that room may well have even greater cause to thank him.