Bullying behavior is a type of persistent, unwanted, negative behavior that includes aggressive teasing, threats of physical violence, and actual battery. I have done classroom observations in private and public preschool and elementary school programs. In some settings I have seen no evidence of bullying. In other settings it seemed to be part of the normal routine, and a part of the corporate culture.
Bullying not only happens during recess. I have seen it going on behind closed doors in the classrooms under the noses of teachers. In one case I saw an MPS teacher aggressively teasing a student (and asked the principal to take disciplinary action against the teacher, which didn't happen). In another setting (over a period of 3 days of classroom observation while doing a field study for a child psych course) I saw a pattern of strictly negative interactions between staff and particular students who were also targeted for bullying by other students. I believe that bullying is likely to be a problem in schools with unstable staffing and high teacher turnover. I would be surprised to find anything more than isolated incidences of bullying at some of the MPS schools with the strongest, most stable programs, such as Barton Open or Burroughs. I am not encouraged by Supt. Peebles reaction (promise to enforce a zero tolerance policy). In addition to providing some training for teachers to deal with bullying behavior, the district needs a stable teaching staff in all schools. The board must stop doing an annual lay off of teachers it plans (in actuality) to rehire or replace, and create positions for teachers on probationary status (first 3 years on the job) that are distributed evenly throughout the district. The district could also put the general student population in the college bound curriculum tracks currently reserved for the district's high achievers without watering down the curriculum if it also stabilizes the teaching staff at all the schools along the lines that I have proposed. -Doug Mann, King Field www.educationright.com - REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
