Bullying the Bully

http://bronx.news12.com/news/tri-state/timothy-doherty-of-highland-falls-accused-of-making-threats-to-highland-falls-intermediate-school-1.5021052


It never fails to amaze me when a child who is getting bullied finally retaliates and then winds up getting in more trouble than the person who was picking on him.  I have seen this countless times as a middle school teacher, but more recently I am witnessing the same thing with a parent.

For the past five years (at least) one of Tyler's classmates has been picked on at school.  His parents have contacted the school any number of times with little result.  In fact, one principal passed it off on the lunch monitor who couldn't possibly watch all kids at all times.  It's enough to make you scream.  (Well, it's enough to make me scream.)

Flash forward five years and we find ourselves in the middle of a seemingly scary situation.  Again this child was bullied; he came home beaten up and the school called the parents blaming the child.  The father went nuts and made threats.  Now, he looks like the bully and the school and its students victims.

I do know that the child is one of those provocative kids who invites trouble.  Still, that is part of the nature of dealing with bullies.  I have sat through several professional development conferences that focus on bullying in schools and one of the issues is how to deal with the provocative student.  Regardless of whether or not they ask for it, students need to be safe.  Just because a kid is not intelligent is no reason to call him stupid.  The same logic should apply to the provocative student.

Further, I do not condone a parent making any sort of threat, but I do fully understand it.  And, in these times we need to be extra cautious about what we say.  Making reference to blood and Sandy Hook Elementary school is dumb.  Still, focusing only on a parent's reaction to what happened to his child is only one part of the story.  If we only focus on the reaction of parents (or children) without looking at what caused the problem only ensures that the same thing will repeat.

If we really want our kids to be safe in school, we need to look the problems in the eye and deal with them when they happen.