My local municipality passed , for the schools, a "no-bully" policy

Bandit

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:03 PM
Original message

My local municipality passed , for the schools, a "no-bully" policy

Sort of zero tolerance policy on bullying. Part of that policy is zero tolerance on name calling. In an official statement read by city council member "Name calling is against our culture and our values" Hear that Imus, Limbaugh, Coulter, Gingrich, Cheney, etc. etc.? Name calling is against our American values.....Imus is gone for exactly that reason. America is getting fed up with incivility..It starts and stops on the play gound.

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William769

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:11 PM
Response to Original message

1. Good for your local municipality!

I wished more would.

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Double T

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:13 PM
Response to Original message

2. corporate america also needs to have an anti-bullying law........

to protect employees from harassment by their superiors. The masses are getting sick and tired of having their asses kicked by those that abuse power and position.

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raccoon

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:59 PM
Response to Reply #2

11. That's a big 10-4! It's incredible the number of bullies there are

in the workplace.

And not just in the corporate work environment. Also in government agencies and nonprofits.

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aikoaiko

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:15 PM
Response to Original message

3. Can you post the text of the policy --- its seems like an impossibly ambiguous judgement call

What names are ok and what names are not?

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Norquist Nemesis

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:16 PM
Response to Original message

4. Here's hoping the teachers enforce it

It needs to be nipped in the bud and not allowed to fester.

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kiahzero

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:16 PM
Response to Original message

5. Is zero-tolerance really a good thing?

I ask this as someone who was bullied as a child. The zero-tolerance policies worked against me; since I was one of the primary targets at the school, the other kids could "rotate" who was the antagonist. If I defended myself in any way, we both got punished, but all of the bullies only got punished once, whereas I got punished every time.

As one Slashdot poster commented on an anti-cyber-bullying law:

From the grade and high schools I've gone to, bullies are usually good at what they do, because punishments can't affect them for one reason or another. Besides, it's not that hard to figure out how to shield yourself from punishment, even while doing some of the most prohibited things in a school. You can shield yourself using threats, you can shield yourself by counter-accusing others, you can shield yourself using politics and parents, and most of all, you can obscure any evidence that would justify a weighty punishment.

Harsh rules usually end up working rather well for bullies. Bullies can threaten other children with false accusations just as well as they always have with a plausible "he started it" claim in the case of a fight. And if this ends up anything like fights were handled at schools I've went to, that means the victims stay quiet, because they know they get punished at a much higher rate than any rule-savvy bully.

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ayeshahaqqiqa

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:54 PM
Response to Reply #5

10. If you start early enough,

you can tell them of the effects of bullying--and why it is wrong. At least that is what I did when I taught elementary school. I was lucky to never have a bully who was so cold and hard hearted that they kept it up. I always concentrated on the bullies not the victims and watched for things to start on the playground, nipping things in the bud. Since I was also famous for going to children's homes and visiting the parents,starting the weeks before school, kids generally behaved in my class.

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The2ndWheel

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:25 PM
Response to Original message

6. Wouldn't calling someone a bully be name calling?

At least technically. From a position of power, above the child who is called a bully.

I don't know, we might as well just skip the middle man, genetically engineer anything we don't like out of people, and just forget these laws that are made to be broken. I don't know why we waste the energy going through this whole production.

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Bandit

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:39 PM
Response to Reply #6

7. No I don't believe so

Bully is a proper name for a person that behaves in such a manner. But you can not call them a lout or an asshole. Or a "girlie man" or a "femi-nazi" You can call a person a partisan if they in fact are. You can call a person a politicain or a lawyer or a teacher. As that is a name for what they indeed are. You can not call them a bastard even if in your opinion they truly are. :shrug: It does call for some common sense on the teachers part I would imagine..

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The2ndWheel

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Wed Apr-18-07 01:17 PM
Response to Reply #7

12. Fair enough

Though won't this have to go outside school too? You have after school, weekends, holidays. To fix the problem, it can't be limited to schools.

"It does call for some common sense on the teachers part I would imagine.."

Only if they don't pay attention to the zero part of zero tolerance.

I'm not saying do nothing about it. I was never bullied in school, I was way too quiet, a big kid, and nobody ever talked to me anyway(especially the girls). So I don't know what it's like to be bullied. That's why I'm wondering. Would this be enough? If not, what's the next step?

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HiFructosePronSyrup

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:41 PM
Response to Original message

8. I think zero-tolerance is a form of bullying.

:shrug:

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ayeshahaqqiqa

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:51 PM
Response to Original message

9. Good for the anti-bullying policy

When I taught school, I would not allow bullying. When I saw it starting, I'd talk to the bullies-and tell them how hurtful it is and how it is something that stays with a bullied person for years--yes, I was bullied and teased in school, and my teachers did NOTHING about it.

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Blue Diadem

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Wed Apr-18-07 01:27 PM
Response to Original message

13. Our elementary began the program this year,

It's supposed to go district wide next year.

Remember the old saying..sticks and stones may break my bones but names/words will never hurt me? The anti-bully program is teaching it differently now.

My 7 yr old granddaughter came home a couple weeks ago saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones..but names will break my heart."

Here's a link to an educational article about bullying. The first myth and actual research fits those people you listed.

http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/issues102.shtml

snip:
# THE MYTH: Bullies suffer from insecurity and low self-esteem. They pick on others to make themselves feel more important.

THE RESEARCH: Most bullies have average or above-average self-esteem. They "suffer" from aggressive temperaments, a lack of empathy, and poor parenting.

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