Are there any 'NO BULLYING' elem. in MoCo?

[Anonymous]

Post about College Gardens has me wondering, are there any elementaries in the area where kids feel 'safe'--physically and emotionally? This is the ONLY reason I would consider a private school (and maybe the class size factor)--The little tolerance for bullying. I guess we're seeking a public elementary that has that intimate, private-school feel, where parents are actively involved, and won't allow for such behaviors to continue.

[Anonymous]

I think you are kidding yourself if you think there is no bullying at private schools...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you are kidding yourself if you think there is no bullying at private schools...

I read it to mean two separate requests: any low tolerance of bullying at any public schools & as a sep. request--a 'private school' feel--unrelated to bullying.

Anyway, as a former private school teacher and public school teacher, many private schools have very strict, enforced no-bullying policies. The 'safety' of being in a private school is that a school can request that a student leaves the school if it continues; Public school? Well, you know...

[Anonymous]

There was a discussion of preteen bullying on Diane Rehm today, including the principal of the WIS lower school and a TC Williams HS teacher. Their take was that a certain level of bullying was inevitable and that the key was to teach children how to deal with it. You can listen online or download.

http://wamu.org/programs/dr/

Why Good Kids Sometimes Are Cruel

Why good kids sometimes act cruelly. A psychologist and a school principal explain the importance of the pre-teen years in heading off mean behavior. They offer strategies for kids, parents and teachers to deal with teasing, bullying and other bad behaviors.

Guests

Carl Pickhardt, author of "Why Good Kids Act Cruel" and "The Everything Parent's Guide to Positive Discipline"; he is also a psychologist in a private counseling practice.

Melody Meade, Principal, Primary School,Washington International School.

Patrick Welsh, English teacher, T.C. Williams High School, Alexandria, Va., and frequent writer on issues in education.

[Anonymous]

definitely was bullying at my child's private elementary school, until the new principal came along and implemented a no bullying policy. I still remember her start of year comments -- "if you have bullying tendencies, or feel you have the need to bully coming on, this is not the school for you!"

[Anonymous]

My children attend Somerset ES (2nd and 5th grade). No bullying among the girls. It actually surprises me how well the girls get along. It is an amazing school.

[Anonymous]

My kid's private school definitely had bullying, in both DCs' grades. The school pretended to act on it, but after watching the situation for a while, a number of us concluded that the school was afraid of driving away certain families with lots of kids, some of whom were bullies.

[Anonymous]

Bullying occurs in all schools, both public and private. MCPS does have a bullying policy that you can locate online.

[Anonymous]

Of course bullying happens in both public and private schools but I think the OP's question is about whether there are Moco schools that do anything about it. From what I've seen at the many schools I've visited, Moco does little to nothing to prevent bullying or teach healthy conflict resolution at the elementary school level. Most schools seem to use the traditional reward and punishment approach to discipline, which has its place, but doesn't do enough to prevent bullying in the first place.

You can go to the Moco schools website and look at surveys for each school, filled out by students themselves. There are questions on there about whether kids feels safe in their school. The percentages are disappointing.

[Anonymous]

We are at CCES and feel that bullying is minimal and not certainly not tolerated. There are many posters about it in school, and many school presentations on how to deal with conflicts among peers. My own DC has mentioned going to the counselor to resolve issues with friends as a useful forum. DC has mentioned that physical violence (fights, yelling, etc.) is pretty much unthinkable among DC's peers (boys or girls), and DC hasn't seen anything like that in the last 2 (of 2) years at this school. Sometimes tensions among friends emerge, but I wouldn't quantify it as bullying, and I have heard about a lot of supportive, inclusive and conflict resolution behavior among DC's friends. Also, I feel that there is a lot more tolerance for difference and personal quirks instead of needing to fit a mold.

Can't vouch for everyone's experience, but ours has been very good in this regard.

This is a big contrast to DC's negative experience in DCPS.