Reply to Bullyism at the elementary school level

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Bullyism at the elementary school level"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We looked at Beauvoir but did not go through with the application because we thought it wasn't the right fit for our DD.  That said, there seemed to be plenty of very happy looking, diverse kids.  We know children of color who have attended and have never heard a word about racist children.

I also think, in general, people should be careful about throwing the word bullying around.  Bullying is really a phenomenon that starts in late elementary and middle school, and is when a child is targeted by another kid or group of kids.  Little kids not playing with each other day-to-day is not bullying, and IMO makes it difficult for us to deal with  the real problem, which exists but is not everywhere a kid feels rejected.[/quote]

Just because someone has not heard of something, it doesn't mean it's never happened. Children who are bullies can focus on any number of traits, including race.  Most schools don't know how to deal with it.  Most parents ignore it because they don't know how to deal with it either. It's possible that OP's neighbor either heard or experienced a discrete incident that was not repeated. Beauvoir does have some fairly conservative (read likely more racist) families.  All it would take is one screwed up child who hears racist attitudes at home to spark a situation where a child of color is bullied on the basis of race.

You're absolutely wrong when you say bullying doesn't begin until the upper elementary grades.  Most bullying is verbal, and it can begin as early as 4 or 5, when children begin to have enough cognitive skills to be manipulative.  It can involve a child being targeted because they are different or simply because they are of a gentle temperament where they are not able to defend themselves against a concerted verbal assault.  I've unfortunately witnessed two cases of it: once where the bully was an almost 5 year old and a second time with a 6 year old.  In both cases, the bullying children had parents who were unable to discipline their children effectively and alternated abusve discipline ((spanking, hitting, screaming) with neglect.

Child development psychologists posit that the seeds of bullying tendencies begin in toddlerhood when children are not provided effective discipline that helps them learn to manage their feelings and begin to develop empathy for others.  Abuse also leads to rage that finds expression in bullying, among other things.

[/quote]

This person makes me sick. Consevatives are not prone to racism anymore than liberals. We are prone to hating high taxes. Stoo injecting your politics into how kids treat each other. OP kids do not care about race and they also do not care about race. Pick a school that you have a good feeling for and make your best decision. SR and Beauvoir are great schools. The only consideration is it religion bothers you[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics