Blog #4
As recent events remind us, school bullying is a significant and pervasive problem in the United States, affecting approximately one in five students, a significant portion of whom are kids with learning disabilities and other special needs.
Heeding the call for action, many states have passed anti-bullying policies. While certainly a step in the right direction, many of these statutes are laws that deal with reporting bullying after the fact. Far too few school districts are taking the steps necessary to prevent bullying from happening in the first place. Why? Because prevention requires a cultural shift that is far more difficult to achieve than simply creating new procedures.
Yet it can be done. Jo Ann Freiberg Ph.D., a well-respected authority on bullying prevention, maintains that the true antidote for bullying is the creation of climates of respect—safe physical, emotional, and intellectual environments that do not tolerate cruelty and mean behaviors.
Read Freiberg’s proposal for what parents, teachers, and administrators can do to foster school environments that reflect climates of respect and join the discussion, sharing with us your thoughts, concerns, and experiences with this important topic.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
The scarey thing is that the news is now reporting that at the high school level, one in three children are effected by bullying. The most critical thing a parent can do is talk to their kids, watch their children for depression, and know when they are on the computer. These days some of the worst bullying is occuring electronically, not with fists on the playground. Tell your children that it’s okay to tell you what is going on.
May 10th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
As a local parent special education rep on the PTA, I recently received a call from a parent whose elementary student was being bullied mercilessly. Classmates had started an “I Hate (name omitted) Club.” The parent indicated there had been many discussions with school officials and still the bullying has persisted for over a year. The article is excellent on the culture that is needed to end and prevent bullying, but what can a parent do when they find their child in a school environment that allows the activity to persist? Any books to recommend? Any recommended actions?
Keep up the great work, SmartKids, of getting important information out to parents.
May 14th, 2010 at 9:14 am
The most important thing a parent can do is be persistent with the school and communicate, communicate, communicate. Also, if the child has an IEP, it is very useful to work through the PPT process and amend the IEP to manage some, if not all, of the inappropriate treatment, since being a target directly impacts a childs’ ability to learn and access his/her academic program. Parents can also call me at the CT State Department of Education (CSDE) (860) 713-6598, and in many cases I will contact the school and do what I can as a resource to discuss possible interventions, if the school is willing. The CSDE has no legal authority to intervene, monitor, investigate or supercede any decisions the local school district would make, but we do our best to be helpful to both families and schools. I also know that you are asking what a parent can do exclusively with/for the child. This is a tough one because no child should have to change who he/she is to be accepted. Importantly, parents should reassure children that what the perpetrators are saying is just not true, and if possible work with them to be able to self-advocate. For some children this is not possible and they should not be held responsible for doing so. This is why the first and most important thing to do is work with the school to get the issues managed.
June 5th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
The most important thing a parent can do is be persistent with the school and communicate, communicate, communicate. Also, if the child has an IEP, it is very useful to work through the PPT process and amend the IEP to manage some, if not all, of the inappropriate treatment, since being a target directly impacts a childs’ ability to learn and access his/her academic program. Parents can also call me at the CT State Department of Education (CSDE) (860) 713-6598, and in many cases I will contact the school and do what I can as a resource to discuss possible interventions, if the school is willing. The CSDE has no legal authority to intervene, monitor, investigate or supercede any decisions the local school district would make, but we do our best to be helpful to both families and schools. I also know that you are asking what a parent can do exclusively with/for the child. This is a tough one because no child should have to change who he/she is to be accepted. Importantly, parents should reassure children that what the perpetrators are saying is just not true, and if possible work with them to be able to self-advocate. For some children this is not possible and they should not be held responsible for doing so. This is why the first and most important thing to do is work with the school to get the issues managed.
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:15 am
Thanks for this article, well written and very informative