Bullying in School

http://www.comcast.net/video/4th-grader-suspended-for-sign/1804928490/Comcast/1802155864/

So i was watching this video, and thought it was pretty interesting and raised some pretty tangent questions as i watched it.

was the punishment to harsh?

what happened to kids just being kids?

are zero tolerance policies really that good to have?

personally i do not think the punishment was too harsh, kids get teased all the time, and its just not right, it leads them to do terrible things, or to think that bullying others is okay, because it happened to them.

what do you guys think?

What about those who have been bullied to death and the perpetrators celebrating the fact. Those are some sick puppies.

Serenel wrote:http://www.comcast.net/video/4th-grader-suspended-for-sign/1804928490/Comcast/1802155864/

So i was watching this video, and thought it was pretty interesting and raised some pretty tangent questions as i watched it.

was the punishment to harsh?

what happened to kids just being kids?

are zero tolerance policies really that good to have?

personally i do not think the punishment was too harsh, kids get teased all the time, and its just not right, it leads them to do terrible things, or to think that bullying others is okay, because it happened to them.

what do you guys think?

First of all, I found the post to be very interesting and insightful. As to my feelings on the punishment, I can not really comment specifically as I do not know all the details.

However, I can say that if the child had been 'repeatedly bullying' the other student, and if his actions were 'just the most recent incident between the two students', then the punishment is probably justified.

Children, especially those at a young age, are incredibly sensitive to the way others view and feel about them. This is only aggravated when those feelings take the form of 'bullying' or harassment.

I think if the situation were reciprocal, and as you said 'kids were just being kids', then I don't think the administration from that particular school would have felt the need to act in the way they did. Perhaps both parties would have been punished, or neither parties, or the punishment would have been less. It is impossible to speculate on this, though. I don't think that this was just a situation of 'kids being kids'; this was repeated harassment (at least how it was represented).

Zero tolerance policies suck the big one. If you need me to explain to you why, you are probably a sociopath, and just incapable of feeling empathy.

In summation, I trust the school officials in this case. Not that I think school boards are infallible, I just believe that if another student was repeatedly 'bullying' another student, then some punishment must be issued because it is incredibly important to protect the feelings of all our children. I personally think that if you disagree, you probably haven't been on the other end of some real bullying.

It is true that we may never have the full story, however like you said it was reported in a fashion to where it was claimed to be the most recent incident in a string of them.

but even if it was the first incident, and the two kids didnt have a friendly relationship, then i am still fine with the punishment.

i know friends mess around with that stuff all the time.

but if that kid wasnt the other friend, he was doing it maliciously, and he had no right to even touch that kid or place anything on his person.

I would say if it was a first time offense, and it was 'malicious' as you said, I don't think two day suspension is an appropriate punishment.

I do, however, believe that punishment would not be out of the question. I just think that a lesser punishment would be more appropriate in a 'first time / malicious' scenario. Perhaps something like a 'moderate' amount of detention, and an obligation to write some sort of essay explaining why bullying and harassment is wrong.

In 9th grade a kid was "gleeking" on me in English class. I told him to stop several times. He continued. Eventually I grabbed him by the hair and slammed him face down onto his desk. I was suspended for 1 day.

As for a 2 day suspension of a 9 year old for a "kick me" sign on the back I say sure, why not. Perhaps a message needed to be sent out to the school that treating people like shit on any level of severity is absolutely unacceptable and will be dealt with firmly*.

Remember back in the 90s when that American teen was caned in Singapore for graffiti? That kid will never graffiti again in that country. Corporal punishment is win.

* I feel it's best to make punishments fit crimes as best possible. Rape = castration, Murder = death, theft = removal of the hand, vandalism = caning, etc. Sadly I don't think suspension is going to teach this child a lesson. Suspension is laughable. 2 days off school is win. Why would he be sad at all?