Bullying- what to do about an unresponsive administration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry this is happening to your child. It's a horrible thing for a family to endure. I have a child at this school and DC reports that bullying and bad behavior are the norms.

The teachers lack the experience and skills to manage children and the administration has a my way or the highway attitude.

Maybe you should try calling the police and see if that gets their attention? If nothing else, it might put a healthy fear in a few of the bullies, both adults and children.

maybe i missed this upthread, but what school are we discussing?

i get that everyone wants to be discreet when there are children involved, BUT....not much is ever going to be remedied if we don't get this out into the open. sunshine is the best disinfectant.

my child when to a very highly regarded charter school and dealing with the admin was very frustrating (not bullying, some other less serious issues). they never actually *DID* anything. they would talk to you politely and professionally. but never did a damn thing. i genuinely believe that they didn't do much for two reasons. 1)they didn't have to. their wait list was into the hundreds. 2)lack of internal expertise as to how handle the matter and no central office to reach out to.

Hilarious post. "Do as I say, not as I do."

[Anonymous]

It seems like the admin is paying lip service to this now. The listserve has blown up with comments from people who want to do something about the problem. It is very strange that the former special ed coordinator posted a counterpoint article titled "Is the term bullying is overused?" Really great representation of how the leadership there looks at the subject. At the PA meeting last night the ED (former?) listed the ways they are training the staff which included peer mediation. Like a 10 year old can address bullying when no adults are allowed to be involved in the peer mediation. They also said the staff are trained in PAR and restraint. I guess they know how to hold kids down without hurting them but what does that have to do with bullying? The principal didn't bother to show up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like the admin is paying lip service to this now. The listserve has blown up with comments from people who want to do something about the problem. It is very strange that the former special ed coordinator posted a counterpoint article titled "Is the term bullying is overused?" Really great representation of how the leadership there looks at the subject. At the PA meeting last night the ED (former?) listed the ways they are training the staff which included peer mediation. Like a 10 year old can address bullying when no adults are allowed to be involved in the peer mediation. They also said the staff are trained in PAR and restraint. I guess they know how to hold kids down without hurting them but what does that have to do with bullying? The principal didn't bother to show up.

the principal's child was hospitalized. hope you feel badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like the admin is paying lip service to this now. The listserve has blown up with comments from people who want to do something about the problem. It is very strange that the former special ed coordinator posted a counterpoint article titled "Is the term bullying is overused?" Really great representation of how the leadership there looks at the subject. At the PA meeting last night the ED (former?) listed the ways they are training the staff which included peer mediation. Like a 10 year old can address bullying when no adults are allowed to be involved in the peer mediation. They also said the staff are trained in PAR and restraint. I guess they know how to hold kids down without hurting them but what does that have to do with bullying? The principal didn't bother to show up.

the principal's child was hospitalized. hope you feel badly.

NP. Most of us aren't part of the inner circle and aren't privy to that fact. The pp raises good points: The discussion is just weird... Why not have a school guidance counselor.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure not many would not have known that since she was at the school 10 minutes before the meeting started.

[Anonymous]

Was bullying on the agenda before the meeting? If so, I didn't hear about it. If not, PP is wrong to imply that the principal avoided the discussion. This is a matter of funding and if parents make it a priority it will happen. People vote with their feet and a school that can't replace kids past 2nd grade can't afford to ignore it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like the admin is paying lip service to this now. The listserve has blown up with comments from people who want to do something about the problem. It is very strange that the former special ed coordinator posted a counterpoint article titled "Is the term bullying is overused?" Really great representation of how the leadership there looks at the subject. At the PA meeting last night the ED (former?) listed the ways they are training the staff which included peer mediation. Like a 10 year old can address bullying when no adults are allowed to be involved in the peer mediation. They also said the staff are trained in PAR and restraint. I guess they know how to hold kids down without hurting them but what does that have to do with bullying? The principal didn't bother to show up.

the principal's child was hospitalized. hope you feel badly.

oh please...all PP's points are good ones...after the track record that seems to have accumulated on this issue is seems totally reasonable to say the principal didn't bother to show up. your hearts and flowers talk won't get engaged, concerned parents on track on this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like the admin is paying lip service to this now. The listserve has blown up with comments from people who want to do something about the problem. It is very strange that the former special ed coordinator posted a counterpoint article titled "Is the term bullying is overused?" Really great representation of how the leadership there looks at the subject. At the PA meeting last night the ED (former?) listed the ways they are training the staff which included peer mediation. Like a 10 year old can address bullying when no adults are allowed to be involved in the peer mediation. They also said the staff are trained in PAR and restraint. I guess they know how to hold kids down without hurting them but what does that have to do with bullying? The principal didn't bother to show up.

the principal's child was hospitalized. hope you feel badly.

oh please...all PP's points are good ones...after the track record that seems to have accumulated on this issue is seems totally reasonable to say the principal didn't bother to show up. your hearts and flowers talk won't get engaged, concerned parents on track on this

drink much??

[Anonymous]

My child is in PK, so maybe there's a lot of information that I'm missing, and maybe I'm also seeing things through rose-colored glasses because I'd like my child to be able to thrive at the school. Those disclaimers aside, I feel optimistic about possibilities for change. At Monday's meeting and in follow-ups on the listserv, I feel that the administration was put on the spot about this issue, and maybe that will provide a strong incentive for change. So far I haven't heard many parents saying that this isn't a problem the school or PA shouldn't be addressing. If a change is going to happen, mightn't this be what the first steps would look like?

(Re the principal's absence: bullying was not on the agenda, but someone from the administration brought it up. She may have expected to be able to make a few remarks and then move on to the next update, but several parents seized the occasion to speak up. So perhaps the principal was led to believe that only an announcement would be made about the issue. Again, maybe I'm just being a naive PK parent...)

[Anonymous]

When is the survey coming out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is in PK, so maybe there's a lot of information that I'm missing, and maybe I'm also seeing things through rose-colored glasses because I'd like my child to be able to thrive at the school. Those disclaimers aside, I feel optimistic about possibilities for change. At Monday's meeting and in follow-ups on the listserv, I feel that the administration was put on the spot about this issue, and maybe that will provide a strong incentive for change. So far I haven't heard many parents saying that this isn't a problem the school or PA shouldn't be addressing. If a change is going to happen, mightn't this be what the first steps would look like?

(Re the principal's absence: bullying was not on the agenda, but someone from the administration brought it up. She may have expected to be able to make a few remarks and then move on to the next update, but several parents seized the occasion to speak up. So perhaps the principal was led to believe that only an announcement would be made about the issue. Again, maybe I'm just being a naive PK parent...)

Agreed. I also didn't know that bullying was this big an issue. Now that the parents are engaged and united the administration will have to step it up (they're not doing nothing, just not enough). It's worth noting that this also speaks to a problem about the lack of clarity regarding what the ED and principal are each supposed to do. Maybe this will change when the ED shifts her focus to the middle school. Finally, you wouldn't know it from this thread but things generally seem to be going well at the school. The addition is open and beautiful, there's a new playing field out back, drop off and pick up are smoother, and the new PA leadership is very responsive.

[Anonymous]

(Re the principal's absence: bullying was not on the agenda, but someone from the administration brought it up. She may have expected to be able to make a few remarks and then move on to the next update, but several parents seized the occasion to speak up. So perhaps the principal was led to believe that only an announcement would be made about the issue. Again, maybe I'm just being a naive PK parent...)

The school added bullying to their portion of the meeting agenda. Prior to each meeting the PTA sends out an agenda of the topics the PTA will be raising and discussing. The meetings always begin with a school update provided by the school leadership. The school does not provide an advance agenda of what they plan to cover in their update.