Probably going to be flamed for this question but...

[Anonymous]

Do you think schools with higher percentages of FARMS students do a better job at bully prevention? They know that some of those students come from rougher backgrounds, so wouldn't it make sense that they bring in the right combination of staff members to really tighten up the discipline?

I ask because all of the bullying situations I've heard about lately are at lilly white, high SES public schools, and I'm curious if others see similar patterns.

[Anonymous]

I think it has more to do with the fact that rich people are assholes.

[Anonymous]

Its actually an interesting question. I wonder if anyone has done any research in this area. (I'm being serious by the way).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it has more to do with the fact that rich people are assholes.

+1

[Anonymous]

There are a really wide range of school with a large percentage of low income students, so it is going to be hard to generalize (not that that every stopped me).

The best of these school do a very good job preventing/addressing bullying and promoting positive social relationships. Among other schools, I've seen teachers, parents, and kids put a great value on toughness, so kids who complain about bullying are ignored or told to toughen up. Behaviors that would be perceived as bullying in a fancier school are sometimes not seen as a serious problem. I've seen situations where parents who complain are ignored or have their complaints minimized, and kids who are unhappy about the way they are treated by others (although they may not have the language of bullying to articulate the problem) are treated as the problem kids-acts like a baby, too sensitive, won't fight back.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it matters what kind of school it is and what kind of student population it is. It is possible that with a bunch of VIP rich kids -- some of the rich kid bullies might just have their faults brushed under the carpet; whereas, a kid from a ghetto school who is black is going to be treated much worse usually.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. This is an interesting question. My kid goes to a Title I school, and I think they do a good job. I'm wondering if has to do with extra $ the school gets leads to additional resources, including staff. I think bullies come in all shapes, sizes and income levels. It's possible that a school with more support staff can be more proactive about creating and keeping a good environment. The recent post talks about an incident in an elementary school bathroom where it sounds like there were too many kids and no adult supervision nearby. Perhaps the Title I school might have more aides, assistants, support staff to be eyes and ears?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm. This is an interesting question. My kid goes to a Title I school, and I think they do a good job. I'm wondering if has to do with extra $ the school gets leads to additional resources, including staff. I think bullies come in all shapes, sizes and income levels. It's possible that a school with more support staff can be more proactive about creating and keeping a good environment. The recent post talks about an incident in an elementary school bathroom where it sounds like there were too many kids and no adult supervision nearby. Perhaps the Title I school might have more aides, assistants, support staff to be eyes and ears?

My children also went to Title I schools and had small class sizes in the younger grades, and I think that was a plus for everyone who attended. The elementary school especially did a great job of keeping the kids in control; there were very few bullying incidents (my kids never heard of them, I only knew from being an actively involved parent). It was not a strict, toe-the-line-or-else atmosphere at all, though; they really made the kids feel cared for and praised them for positive behavior, which was what a lot of the kids were craving, positive attention. Contrary to what it seems a lot of people on these boards think, FARMS kids are not the only kids who have behavior issues!! In fact, a lot of the less priviliged were very well behaved, and taught by their parents to respect adults and authority. I can say for a fact that a lot of the things kids typically bully others about -- what someone looks like, what they wear, how poor they are -- did not occur in the schools my kids attended, all of which had high numbers of FARMS students.

I also agree that bullies come at all income levels!! Just because someone is raised in a wealthy family doesn't mean that they are being taught how to interact positively with others! Think of all the nasty things said to others on DCUM (where there are apparently quite a few well-off posters) and the snobby attitudes; I can only imagine what some of these people's children must be like.

[Anonymous]

My DC was in a Title I school that was majority Spanish-speaking and he (as a non-Spanish speaker) was bullied on the playground by kids saying things about him in Spanish and then laughing at him and taunting him. He often came home in tears.

[Anonymous]

How do you know that the kids were taunting him in Spanish if your DC doesn't speak Spanish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know that the kids were taunting him in Spanish if your DC doesn't speak Spanish?

Because the teacher who witnessed the behaviors multiple times told me. And yes, she speaks Spanish. She is also a neighbor.

[Anonymous]

My DD goes to a fairly mixed income and race MCPS school. All of the mean girls are white from upper income families. All of the nice girls in the class are minorities. Its the opposite with the boys. So who knows?

[Anonymous]

I think schools with good leadership do the best job with bully prevention.

[Anonymous]

My kids are in predominately white high school in an affluent area (not in D.C. right now). There is no real bullying in the schools. It's actually something the school is really proud of. The district has a very strict policy on bullying and incidents are taken very seriously. If a child is caught bullying, he goes home - immediately. In other words, I think you'll see less bullying in schools where it is simply not tolerated.

You reference some of the rich, white kids doing the bullying? I guarantee that if mom or dad had to leave their oh-so-important jobs to take their bully home, you would see much less bullying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know that the kids were taunting him in Spanish if your DC doesn't speak Spanish?

Why would speaking Spanish be necessary?

1. Kids say something in Spanish -- and I suspect most Anglo kids in a Spanish-majority environment pick up at least some Spanish by 1st/2nd grade.
2. Spanish-speaking kids look at/point at PP's kid and start laughing.

Come on it's not rocket science.