Policy of Montgomery County Public Schools on Bullying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you write a written complaint in an email to the teacher, counselor and the Principal in which you use the word "BULLIED" - it will be of no use.

Ask in your email is you can involve the police, press charges and go to the courts to ask for a restraining order as well.
Please do not go small - make the biggest stink you can.

This is how I handled my kid being bullied.

BTW - please include pictures of any injury and dr. report is that occured.

Keep escalating to the next level. Do is forcefully and rapidly. Do not wait to take action.

How likely is a police report to work? I don't know how old the bully is, but does legal action against a young minor really work?

You are not filing a police report - You are asking the Principal in your email if filing a police report or informing the media or going to the courts, a possibility. You are asking for suggestions from the Principal - an officer of MCPS - about the recourse you have.

I would even ask - can the bully be expelled? - because surely MCPS has some procedures of removing violent kids from the system? can you press charges against the parents - because surely they are responsible for their child's behavior? I would write everything in the email. And forward it to the teacher, counselor and the Principal. You are basically creating a STINK. They will do whatever is required to contain this.

And then this email gets forwarded by you to the next level.

Be extremely POLITE and POLITICALLY CORRECT. However, whatever they say - do not agree that it is anything but BULLYING. And escalate, document, question.

I can even tell you what the next step of the school will be. I have danced this Tango with them in the past and I got it resolved to my satisfaction.

You have to =

I disagree with this advice, if you sound too over the top and focus too much on the other child, you seem less rational and your message gets lost.
Focus on facts and your concerns for your child and his/her safety. Definitely escalate and feel free to quote the policy, but asking for things like the expulsion of another child will not help your case. Also, don't threaten anything you aren't prepared to follow through with, they can sense empty threats.

This is not to minimize the issue at all. It sounds like something you definitely need to deal with, I just think you will get faster results with a calmer approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you write a written complaint in an email to the teacher, counselor and the Principal in which you use the word "BULLIED" - it will be of no use.

Ask in your email is you can involve the police, press charges and go to the courts to ask for a restraining order as well.
Please do not go small - make the biggest stink you can.

This is how I handled my kid being bullied.

BTW - please include pictures of any injury and dr. report is that occured.

Keep escalating to the next level. Do is forcefully and rapidly. Do not wait to take action.

How likely is a police report to work? I don't know how old the bully is, but does legal action against a young minor really work?

You are not filing a police report - You are asking the Principal in your email if filing a police report or informing the media or going to the courts, a possibility. You are asking for suggestions from the Principal - an officer of MCPS - about the recourse you have.

I would even ask - can the bully be expelled? - because surely MCPS has some procedures of removing violent kids from the system? can you press charges against the parents - because surely they are responsible for their child's behavior? I would write everything in the email. And forward it to the teacher, counselor and the Principal. You are basically creating a STINK. They will do whatever is required to contain this.

And then this email gets forwarded by you to the next level.

Be extremely POLITE and POLITICALLY CORRECT. However, whatever they say - do not agree that it is anything but BULLYING. And escalate, document, question.

I can even tell you what the next step of the school will be. I have danced this Tango with them in the past and I got it resolved to my satisfaction.

You have to =

I disagree with this advice, if you sound too over the top and focus too much on the other child, you seem less rational and your message gets lost.
Focus on facts and your concerns for your child and his/her safety. Definitely escalate and feel free to quote the policy, but asking for things like the expulsion of another child will not help your cas[b]e. Also, don't threaten anything you aren't prepared to follow through with, they can sense empty threats.

This is not to minimize the issue at all. It sounds like something you definitely need to deal with, I just think you will get faster results with a calmer approach.

Agree with this.

Focus on what happened to your kid, and don't offer up any punishments for the other child.

MCPS focuses on less punitive action, and it is incredibly difficult to get a child expelled. They want to keep the kids in school. Especially in ES.

Take a calm, thoughtful approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you write a written complaint in an email to the teacher, counselor and the Principal in which you use the word "BULLIED" - it will be of no use.

Ask in your email is you can involve the police, press charges and go to the courts to ask for a restraining order as well.

Please do not go small - make the biggest stink you can.

This is how I handled my kid being bullied.

BTW - please include pictures of any injury and dr. report is that occured.

Keep escalating to the next level. Do is forcefully and rapidly. Do not wait to take action.

I have to agree. I'm not normally one to raise a fuss, but I draw the line at violence. My kid should not have to feel scared at school that he will be hurt by a classmate during Math centers. And, the principals will not take action unless prompted by threats from the next level. Contact the Area Supervisor/Area Superintendent. Contact the Office of Student Safety. Anyone and everyone needs to be notified.

The principal counts on the fact that parents don't want to make a fuss. So many incidents go unreported, especially in ES.

The school director, the associate superintendent and the superintendent are equally as motivated to say no bullying occurred. First, if the school failed to protect your child and admitted as such, you could use their words against them and sue. Second, it's a blemish on their record and school that the event happened.

If you want a safe environment, your child will have to go to a private school where they can expel problem students.

[Anonymous]

Not for the feint of heart but important to see.

Sometimes you gotta punch back.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eu0qd09E33o

Notice the girl first said I don’t want to fight
Then after being touched she said don’t touch me again.
Then when hit in the face, it was time to act. It was decisive.

3 points-
1. No one is going to ever bully this girl again, and if someone does,
2. This girl now has the self confidence to respond if necessary.
3. That bully is likely not going to bully again.

Violence should be a last and rarely used resort but at some point kids to know its ok to defend themselves.

[Anonymous]

Previous poster here. Principal said they’ll make sure kids are separated. I don’t think this is enough. What are my options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you write a written complaint in an email to the teacher, counselor and the Principal in which you use the word "BULLIED" - it will be of no use.

Ask in your email is you can involve the police, press charges and go to the courts to ask for a restraining order as well.

Please do not go small - make the biggest stink you can.

This is how I handled my kid being bullied.

BTW - please include pictures of any injury and dr. report is that occured.

Keep escalating to the next level. Do is forcefully and rapidly. Do not wait to take action.

I have to agree. I'm not normally one to raise a fuss, but I draw the line at violence. My kid should not have to feel scared at school that he will be hurt by a classmate during Math centers. And, the principals will not take action unless prompted by threats from the next level. Contact the Area Supervisor/Area Superintendent. Contact the Office of Student Safety. Anyone and everyone needs to be notified.

The principal counts on the fact that parents don't want to make a fuss. So many incidents go unreported, especially in ES.

The school director, the associate superintendent and the superintendent are equally as motivated to say no bullying occurred. First, if the school failed to protect your child and admitted as such, you could use their words against them and sue. Second, it's a blemish on their record and school that the event happened.

If you want a safe environment, your child will have to go to a private school where they can expel problem students.

Most parents would choose private school in a heartbeat over the disaster that is MCPS.

However, it’s not always financially viable.

Agree that all the way up the chain of command, it’s tough to get help in these situations.

Not sure what else parents can do, if they can’t go private. Can you call the police if another minor assaults your kid in ES? This happened at our public ES, but parents are very hesitant to call the police on a kid! Tough situation

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Previous poster here. Principal said they’ll make sure kids are separated. I don’t think this is enough. What are my options?

I would give it one week. As soon as your child is near the bully, report that the problem persists and immediately escalate. You tried doing it internally. I'm assuming that you filled out the form like others mentioned. That is key.

At some point, there are two problems - the bully and the administration not acting. You can report both to central. Go to the superintendent for your school and ask for a meeting to discuss the bully and the lack of action on the part of the school's administration. You are correct. Your child will thank you for it. The bully is doing it to others (they always are) and not every parent has then backbone to fight for their child.

Good luck. I'm glad you are pushing this.

[Anonymous]

My child is also being bullied. I remembered seeing the form to report it so I filled it out tonight with my son.

Apparently another boy has been humping him (can you believe it?), pushing him in the hallway and calling him a faggot. Today my son confided in a friend at school who then confronted the bully. The bully then charged at my son and threatened to beat him up. The kids at school formed a wall and told my son to run away. He stayed because he said if he ran, he'd have to run every day (I told him he was really brave.) My son is a gentle soul and I can't imagine him ever hitting back - even in self-defense.

My son doesn't know this kid at all. He is new and they are all in 6th grade in middle school.

I really don't want to be causing a stink this early in the year but it's clear I have to say something.

My son was really shaken up and even at 11pm now - he can't sleep and is worried. I know he didn't want to tell anyone - it's embarrassing.

I like the principal and feel like she will do the right thing but it was helpful to hear other responses on here.

The most important thing I've learned at our previous school, current school and from the Kavanaugh hearings (sorry to get political) is that we must speak up immediately and document everything. The wait and see approach is asking for more trouble because bullies don't stop until they have to and nobody seems to believe the victim if they wait.