Violence at schools
Despite increased attention to the bullying of school-age children, researchers, school leaders and federal education and health officials say more research is needed to pinpoint effective anti-bullying practices.
Phillip C. Rodkin, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told the Department of Education's first summit on bullying prevention Wednesday that the reason school officials and other adults don't know more about bullying is simple: "They didn't ask. They didn't want to know."
He said adults need to spend more time talking to children about the social ecology of relationships to understand who is being bullied by whom and what factors in the school—including classroom management—create conditions for bullying relationships to persist.
One challenge that a number of presenters brought up at the Washington, D.C., summit was the lack of agreement about what constitutes bullying. Bullying is defined in some of the 43 state laws banning it, but the definition varies, as does the way researchers ask students and others about incidences of bullying and other aggressive behavior in schools.
Another set of challenges also stymies the work, said Dr. Joseph L. Wright, a pediatrician who is a senior vice president and head of the Child Health Advocacy Institute at Children's National Medical Center in Washington.
Many of his fellow pediatricians lack knowledge about bullying and its connection to serious health risks for children. Wright said he has used his leadership positions in groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics to help raise awareness. He also is working to convince another group of people to take the physical and other consequences of bullying more seriously: the parents of his young patients who often write off the injuries as part of "kids being kids."
"Many of us grew up with a different ethos around these behaviors and what they mean," Wright explained.
The two-day summit, put together through the leadership of the federal Education Department and the Health Resources and Services Administration, is also a vehicle for federal agencies to show off the tools built from their collaboration.
One national tool is the website Find Youth Info, a project of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs. As an extension of that site, the working group has created BullyingInfo.org. The sites bring together just about everything every federal department and agency has available to help administrators, teachers, students, and parents understand and deal with bullying. To have it all in one place is nothing short of a bureaucratic miracle.
Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, the U.S. Surgeon General, called bullying a "public health issue" and said local advocates and educators have to build on the policy work of the federal government to get others to take bullying just as seriously as other health issues affecting youngsters.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who kicked off the summit by talking about "the plague of bullying," said the department and its Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools are stepping up enforcement of civil rights violations and will issue policy guidance to schools about their responsibilities to make sure violations of civil rights law are addressed. Some of the bullying of children, with its sexist, homophobic and racist roots, can be considered violations of harassment law.
That said, Duncan was clear that his goal is "not to lock up America's youth," but rather to balance a hard-line approach with a need to get bullies the help they need and to emphasize preventative programs and interventions.
Others are stepping up, as well.
Stuart Snyder, a top Turner Broadcasting Service executive who runs the Cartoon Network and other channels, used the summit to announce a new anti-bullying campaign called "Stop Bullying. Speak Up." The campaign, which will launch in October, also will involve sister network CNN. The news channel will produce a series of reports on bullying and hold a town hall meeting on bullying as part of its show "Anderson Cooper: 360°."
Facebook, the social-networking giant, is addressing bullying through a partnership with the National PTA that aims to bring information about cyberbullying and Internet safety to local communities. It recently launched a safety center, where parents and others can go for more information, and it has staff members who monitor the site for cyberbullying and harassment and move to shut down any instances within 24 hours, said Mozelle W. Thompson, a member of the website's advisory board and a former member of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
On Thursday, the second day of the conference, top Justice Department and Education Department officials are scheduled to talk about the role policy can play in preventing bullying, and a Tennessee schools superintendent is slated to discuss how school climate changes can reduce bullying. Stay tuned to District Dossier and to my Twitter feed for more.
“Are we modeling positive values and moral behavior around children?” “Schools need to cultivate an environment of trust and accountability for their students,” said Duncan. “Victims of bullying aren’t ‘tattletales;’ they’re being responsible. We, as adults, must also present consistent and sustained model behavior for children.”
Video of a recent Fox News Panel discussion "The Push to Ban Paddling in Schools" is available online at Opposing Views where panelists are shocked to learn that corporal punishment is still used in schools in 20 states and state that it is medieval, and they refer to Memphis City Schools Board Member Whalum's assertion that detention doesn't work in poor, largely populated areas. The panel comes to the conclusion that there has to be a better way for schools to discipline students than by the pain and humiliation of paddling.
Some parents in the U.S. are unable to protect their children from overhearing school employees hit children with wooden paddles in hallways in school. This is my family's situation. We don't hit our 3 children, never have. It shocks our conscience everyday that children are physically hit with wooden boards by school employees to deliberately inflict physical pain and suffering as punishment in schools in some states, when the practice is already illegal in schools in 30 states and prohibited by Federal law in prisons and juvenile detention centers. An Enfield, Conn. High School Teacher is facing sexual assault charges after being accused of spanking a female student in class in stark contrast to a recent incident where over a dozen high school girls in Alabama received "Spankings" for prom dresses that were too revealing. Note the disparity. 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.
The TRUTH is that school children are treated differently in our great nation based on where they live. A black middle school student in Texas DIED by having his chest crushed when his teacher sat on him to restrain him and ignored his pleas that he could not breathe, he died on the classroom floor in front of his classmates (this teacher is teaching in another state), a Texas high school student suffered deep bruising and welts to his lower back, buttocks and back of his legs when he received 21 "licks" with a wooden canoe paddle, which broke during the beating and had to be taped to continue the beating, a 9-year old Georgia 3rd grader suffered deep bruising injuries when he was paddled with a WOODEN PADDLE 3 TIMES IN ONE DAY (Decatur Co., GA affirmed Corporal Punishment Policy 9/17/09 for school children) and a Publicly Funded Charter School in Memphis, Tennessee physically punishes middle/high school boys and GIRLS weekly during a ceremony called "Chapel" by hitting them with wooden paddles and/or whipping their hands with leather straps IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS AS A DETERRENT to publicly induce shame, humiliation and fear! The school employees in the above actions have LEGAL IMMUNITY and are STILL paid by our tax-dollars to be ENTRUSTED with the care and education of our children!
Decades ago, no one questioned corporal punishment of children in schools (Illegal in Schools in 30 States today) and police tended to think of domestic abuse as a private matter between husband and wife, rather than a criminal act.
Instances of physical and sexual abuse regularly occur in our public-school systems which is why we must make our collective voices heard to Demand U.S. Education institute nationwide policies and practices of zero tolerance for abusers, compensate victims for counseling as long as needed and implement background checks and educational programs for all employees and volunteers in order to identify and prevent child sexual and physical abuse.
Our children are worth the effort to protect them and we must demand "Best Practices" that teach children "discipline" through non-violent practices in schools. Students must be taught why what they did was wrong and given the tools to improve behavior/decision making skills while empowering them with awareness to their human right to integrity of their bodies (hands-off!) in our schools and society.
My husband and I are parents of 3 children attending schools in an unresponsive Paddling School District, Houston Co., Tennessee We are unable to protect our 3 children (whom we do not hit) from witessing/overhearing classmates being threatened/hit with Wooden Paddles by teachers just outside class for minor infractions such as not turning in homework, horsing around, etc. Then the battered student is further humiliated when they immediately return to their seat with a red and tear-stained face. Tennessee State Law does Not require Parental Consent or Notification for children to be physically/corporally punished at school.
Federal and Tennessee State Government Officials have informed us that the very important matter of our children's health and safety in school is a "Local Issue" left up to autonomous school district governing board members. My husband and I made a written/verbal presentation to our local school board members in April 2008 during "National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month" to Demand they Prohibit Physical/Corporal Punishment of Children in our schools, to date, August 2010, we have received no response, no phone call, no letter, they have IGNORED US!
Volumes of research indicate harm and learning impairment to the healthy development of children subjected to and witnessing corporal punishment. We are vehemently Opposed to our children's learning environment including fear, anxiety, dread and humiliation and outraged that all U.S. tax-paying citizens are not receiving EQUAL access to safe and healthy learning environments for our children.
Our nation's most prominent and trusted Children's Health and Education Organizations have issued Official Position Statements Opposing Corporal Punishment of Children in Schools.
School corporal punishment of students is a children's human rights violation and a violation of our nation's constitution ensuring every individual the right to equal protection and due process.
H.R. 5628 "Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act" was introduced to Congress on 29 June and referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. It requires 25 votes to move it on to the next stage: as of 27 July it had 21 votes. Please contact your U.S. Congress Representative and urge them to Co-Sponsor/Support H.R. 5628 "Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act."