Ken, thanks for the helpful link. What a great lead!!!! I will be watching Time Warner Cable channel 24 tonight from 8 to 9pm!
Let me reiterate…I am not accusing anyone of anything. Simply presenting a serious problem that requires change to correct. If you are doing your job, as a teacher, administrator, or parent, there is no need to feel attacked, accused, worried or singled out. The goal to all of this is to protect our children and give them the same rights that the rest of society has. I have a group of supporters presently willing to do whatever it takes to bring this issue to light…and change the violence in schools. We believe that the news is a great way to bring this out in the open by reaching an enormous amount of people quickly. As I have said before, strength is in numbers and my belief is that if we ask anyone who is appalled by the violence and wants to help protect the children in our schools to write their concerns to the Board of Ed and all our other elected officials stating their concerns, I guarantee this issue gets some attention. A major news station contacted me yesterday. They seem to be interested in doing a story on this. The producer that contacted me said that they are hoping to "shed some light on a growing problem". He stated he would like to set up an interview. I am not sure what he has in mind, but if he is willing to meet with a group, is anyone interested? I am also putting together a petition (with a few other people) and will make as many copies as necessary (the more the better), giving them to whoever would be willing to gather signatures. These signed petitions would then be sent to our state’s elected officials and our president (for good measure)!!! I am not sure if electronic petitions are valid in a situation like this, or anytime. (such as in an email) I don’t think they are. Does anyone know the deal with that? There is also a local business willing to leave one on their counter for customers to review and hopefully sign. The first and only business I asked so far. If anyone has any businesses that they can ask to have this petition displayed, please let me know. Obviously, the more signatures, the more we will be heard and taken seriously. I have also sent an email to the S.A.V.E. organization that Ken referred us to. I am simply gathering prices, advice and ideas. Seems like one of many avenues we can take.
My god folks, it is 30 years since I have been out of High-school but were the schools really that safe when you were growing up? I feel sorry for the child that is being beaten up on a frequent basis and something needs to be done about it, but come on folks. I had to deal with bullies and fighting in Grade School, Junior High and High School. In Junior High some punk wiped a snot on my back and I punched him in the face, I got two black eyes but in that school nobody ever went after me again. In Junior High and High school I saw guns and hell I even took hunting knifes to Junior High School fully intending to defend myself. I am not necessarily proud of these things but how much more tame can these schools be than they are now. Of course nothing is as good as the good old days are they????
That's the problem Hught, kids today aren't really allowed to defend themselves. The administration seems to come down just as hard on the victim as it does on the perpetrator. This crap has got to stop or we will continue to have kids who will just explode one day with pent up agression from not being allowed to defend themselves. Wasn't some bullying involved with the VA Tech shooter? That's NO excuse for what he did by any stretch. But if someone is already mentally unstable, bullying just pushes them over the edge.
When I punched the guy out I got the same suspension the other guy got but it stopped the problem. P.S. About 5 years later I saw this guy on TV complaining about Police Brutality, a number of police offers got hold of him in a back alley and beat the hell out of him. Man he looked bad!
Sounds like he had it coming in both instances!! Sadly, sometimes getting a physical "attitude adjustment" is the only thing some people understand! :mrgreen:
I think in many cases it's impossible to tell who "started it" and both kids get the same punishment. When my son was bullied in school and his dad & I told him to defend himself, we also told him to expect to be punished for it at school. We tried at first telling him to be the better person and not fight back, but it obviously was not working. The schools would not do anything about bullying back then, just as they do not now. So we told him not to start anything, but if he was attacked, to give as good as he got, and take his punishment like a man. Normally, if our kids got in trouble in school, they were in more trouble at home, but not in this case. We did not object to the school giving him detention for fighting, but we did not punish him for defending himself. And once it became clear that he would not just "take it" the bullying stopped. I'm sure the bully found someone else to pick on. I do not understand why schools refuse to deal with bullies. It seems to me they make it the victim's problem, just so they won't have to deal with it.
Heaven forbid if the government gives the parents of a home schooled child the money they would have spent if they went to a public school. These are statistics and numbers that the Educational System does not want to happen and hate to hear about.
I registered on this site just so I could reply to this issue. Much has changed in the past 30 years since many of us have been in school. Music, movies, the media, the list is endless. We are expecting normal, rational behavior out of kids who are bombarded daily by the world we live in. Unfortunately, it's not going to be that simple. Starting with the news is a great idea! How about lobbying for the "No Bully Law" here in NC. As of right now North Carolina gets a BIG, FAT, F www.bullypolice.org ! Let's get it passed! How about LOUDLY demanding action from the school board and not shutting up until we get results! Our property taxes and Federal taxes PAY THEIR SALARIES!!!! EOG test scores insure funding and jobs. Enforced no bulling policies ensures lives! The time is here for us to get off our haunches and demand safety for our children and teachers for that matter! Feel free to contact me by PM.
Excellent article, Ready...thanks for posting it. I would give anything to be able to homeschool my kidlet. Unfortunately, as a single-parent, I have to work full time. Anyone who has suggestions on how to work homeschooling into a full-time work schedule...I want to talk to you pronto!!!
I will be contacting Gov't agencies tomorrow to find what is being done to pass the No Bullying Law! Once it is passed parents will have LEGAL RECORSE! Also, I work from home and have a huge resource of work at home REAL jobs! I don't home school, not cut out for it. I am, however, cut out for ensuring the safety of my children at school, holding administration accountable and taking action8)
I believe many parents have taken this stance against bullying, and unfortunately, the schools have sought to take even this simplest of rights - the right to self-defense - away from the victims. A child who is bullied and defends his/herself now receives not just suspension, but all that goes with it: If the child is suspended for 5 days, for instance, that's 5 days of classtime lost. For a child who is working hard on their academics, that is devastating. I don't know about Johnston Co, but in Wake co. schools, students who are suspended are not allowed to make up their work. 5 days can turn an "A" average into a "D" or "F" easily. A drop in grades such as that described above, can cause a child to no longer be allowed to participate in sports at the school. A child who is suspended can be refused acceptance to clubs and honor organizations that they would otherwise qualify for. I know of a child that was beaten up a month before unduction into the Honor Society, and was subsequently suspended for being "involved" in a fight. That child was refused induction into the Honor Society because there is a rule that if you've been suspended for any kind of violence, you can't be in the Honor Society. The teacher/sponsor tried to get an exemption, knowing the student and the situation, but the school refused to make the exemption. Essentially, one incident of physical assault resulting from a campaign of bullying against a child can turn a well-behaved, academically oriented, high-achieving honor student who participates in clubs and sports... ...into a child who is failing, refused recognition for honors they have earned, and pulled from extra-curricular activities they love and thrive in. They lose trust in all school personnel and they lose their motivation. Who can blame them? They've just had it proven to them that being a good, high-achieving kid doesn't mean anything when it comes to being judged right or wrong. They've been shown that being well-behaved and taking your education seriously doesn't mean a hill of beans because the violent, low-performing, repeat-offender perpetrators who did this to them received no more punishment than they did. In fact, the victim realizes they have lost more, because they know that the perpetrator could care less about being suspended. It's just a vacation day for them. Yet to the child victim, the school doesn't see any of that...much less care one iota about the injustice of it. These victims become depressed, they go to school each and every day fearful for their safety, they lose all enthusiasm for school and activities - even those within the home. They stop trying to achieve and many require professional counseling. They sometimes lose friends because of the "association" factor that is involved, and this only worsens their isolation. Other kids distance themselves from the victim out of fear of becoming the next target because the perpetrators often instigate this fear. The perpetrators often begin harassing the friends who support the victim...it's another method to their madness. All because they refused to stand there and get the **** beaten out of them. Now days, the suspension of the victim just further encourages the pepetrators to do more bullying against the victim. They see it as a notch on their belt to get a "good kid" suspended. They don't care that they themselves got suspended in gaining that trophy. I highly suspect that these kids don't get any repercussions at home for what they've done or the suspension they've gained. In other words, they suffer naught from it. They gain respect in their peer group for it. Often, even more of the bully's "friends" join in. The sound you hear is of a hammer hitting a nail square-smack-dab on the head.
That's right! The hammer is coming down because the method's in place are not working! The idea that any conflict between students will result in both being punished is laughable. Our justice system isn't set up like that and punishment, or recourse, in other school systems, in other states, isn't administered that way either. If someone breaks into your home or steals your purse/wallet are you going to be punished along with the criminal? I think not! North Carolina and Johnston county, for that matter, could learn a lot by taking a look at what DOES WORK! I personally will push the issue and raise the bar. If there are any JC administrators out there lurking, prepare for some changes!
Here's an elightening experiment for those of you that are parents. If you have a child in the upper grades - middle school and high school - ask them if they have witnessed a student get beaten up by another student at school. Ask them what they saw and heard. I'm not talking about a fight between two kids with a personal issue going on between them...I'm talking about an assault on a victim who has no desire to fight. I'm talking about boys beating up a girl they don't even know, simply because they or an acquaintance perceived some type of disrespect from her. It might have been something as simple as a look given by the victim when the perpetraor or his friend tried to cut in the lunch line. I'm talking about a group of girls beating up on another girl because she "dissed" someone by refusing to move when demanded to, so a perpetrator could sit beside her friend in class. Bigger boys beating up smaller boys. Lanky, strong kids beating up over or under weight kids. Kids who are obviously experienced at personal violence beating up kids whom it is apparent have never been involved in a fight in their life. I'm talking about a physically unbalanced, and non-mutual act of violence. In these cases, it often escalates after weeks or months of verbal harrasment including taunting about weight or the way the victim dresses, racial slurs and simply unfounded and unprovoked hateful talk aimed at the victim. The victim cant' take anymore and finally reacts. Saying "Leave me alone" or "Go away" causes the perpetrator to issue a long-sought after challenge of "What did you say to me?" or "Oh no you didn't"...followed by the physical altercation. You'd think that the bigger or older kids would jump in and stop it. You'd think that if a group of football players saw a girl getting beat up by a guy or a group of girls, that they would intervene. BUT THEY DON'T. They don't want to get involved because they know that if they do, they can and will be suspended. The football players walk away, because they know that if they intervene, they will be suspended for being involved in a fight and can get kicked off the team. Older kids getting ready to graduate in a year don't want to lose their spots in the honor organizations, or in clubs due to suspension. Many simply don't want to get the crap beaten out of themselves any more than the current victim is. They don't want a target on their back. Scariest of all, the mob mentality is frightening, from what I'm hearing. I've had it described to me as hoards of kids - many who are friends with the perpetrator - surrounding the assault, jumping up and down and hooting like a bunch of animals, with smiles on their faces, air-punching as though they were throwing the punches themselves, and loving every minute of it. Shouts of "Kick his ***". Kids laughing as they shout "Man, did you see punch? That girl is tough!" Tons of camera phones with the video rolling. The spectators then put the videos on Youtube where it is rewarded with comments like "Man, I would love to have seen that", and jokes about how "...that little one tried to get a few punches in, LOL". It's enough to make any sane adult nauseous - especially one who has kids attending these schools. Now I know that schoolyard fights have always drawn a crowd with chants of encouragement to the parties involved. This is different. Those were fights resulting from disagreements between the parties, with friends taking sides. This is pure, unadulterated entertainment gained at the expense of anonymous victims whose welfare is of no concern whatsoever to the spectators.
Good for you. That is exactly what we all should do. I have already done that, copying many other officals. Anyone who has the time and concern, please do the same!
Magnolia - Give Mari Fitz-Wynn a call. She leads a support group ... "One to One Ratio", for single parents that homeschool or are interested in becoming home educators. 919.872.2782 http://www.heartforhomeschool.org Many homeschoolers are no longer SAHMs. Many work ... some full-time. You get really creative with scheduling, etc... **Plug - Johnston County Home Educators will have our annual Bookfair and Homeschool Conference ... Saturday, July 14th - 10:00-3:00 @ Hocutt Memorial Church in Clayton... 11 FREE workshops / 30+ vendors of new and used educational materials. Learn more at www.jchenc.org <web site updated regularly so do keep checking back>
Pirate, I have thought many times over this year how well I could educate my children if the county gave me these funds. It is very fustrating.
