Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "How To Deal With Bullies": After attending the meeting the other night I walked away with a number of clearly defined thoughts about the problem.
Simply stated:
Bullying has been around forever.
The parent's view is that school personnel bury their heads in the sand and the bullying is allowed to continue.
The emotional impact is extreme to both the parents and the victims. Not even addressing the possibility of injury or death. The only solution thus far is for the victim to leave the school further traumatizing the victim. NOT ONE PERSON INDICATED THAT BULLING WAS HANDLED TO THEIR SATISFACTION.
Views of the parents and professionals regarding the bullies range from the desire for extreme punishment to a need to help the bullies who may too be victims.
The parents have had enough and want action NOW to help their kids and set policy to minimize the bullying issues in the future. There have been comments questioning the right of this group to band together regarding a problem. It seems to me that that right was not only protected by the constitution but encouraged by the constitution. When something is wrong in our society it is not only a right to band together for change but a duty that has been long ignored by our apathetic majority. The parents have stood by and accepted the lack of action by the schools for far too long. The principals, teachers, board, PTA etc have known about this problem and have done nothing. Now that the issue has been raised we are suddenly hearing that all of the people and organizations in "power" have put this on their agenda a few months before this group united. Yeah right! They have worked very hard for a long time in their efforts to accomplish nothing. Since no one else has done anything perhaps it is time for this group to step up, grow larger and force action. Clearly that action has to be a combination of changing the climate on a consistent ongoing basis starting at a young age, training for teachers and other professionals, counseling for the victim and the bully, punishment in varying degrees and in the extreme case removal of a child who is a sociopath. Some firm policy has to determined.
I realize that coming up with the ideal solution is just a dream but surely in a matter of months a basic plan should be formulated using the combination of ideas of this committee outside "experts" and the school personnel. Of course this will always be a work in process and we will not see the true results until today's kindergartners reach middle or high school, however today's victims need help NOW.
I wish this committee luck and I hope they can institute action NOW.
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The school climate needs to be changed and hopefully this will extend to the sports arena and include coaches who even though they are volunteering, they will also need to adhere to strict anti-bullying guidelines.
ReplyDeletePlainview Board of Education Holds Workshop Meeting
ReplyDeletePOB Herald by Karen Gellender
The Plainview-Old Bethpage School District Board of Education held a very different sort of meeting on Monday, Sept. 27. Not only was the format different, with a more informal discussion among the board members and no public participation segment, but the venue was different as well; due to problems with the electrical systems at Mattlin Middle School, the meeting was held at the high school instead.
As always, the meeting started with a report from the POBJFKHS student government. Talia, the representative, reported on the success of Safe Teen Driving Night, and the Pep Rally on Friday Sept. 24. Talia also reported that the A.P. Psychology class will be dealing with bullying as a theme this year, which dovetails with the board’s concerns on the subject.
Superintendent Gerard Dempsey proceeded to report on the power issues at Mattlin Middle School. Their had been partial power during the school day due to the need to replace cables, which LIPA will be handling. Dempsey said that there would be an emergency repair the next day, which would require the power in the school to be turned off. Dempsey acknowledged that the lack of power would affect instruction, however he said that the district felt “a day with some limited impact on instruction was better than no instruction at all.”
The main purpose of the meeting, termed a workshop meeting, was for the board to begin to define their goals for the school year, and beyond, in three primary areas: academic standards, school climate, and district finances
http://www.antonnews.com/plainviewoldbethpageherald/news/10813-plainview-board-of-education-holds-workshop-meeting.html
When asked whether or not a new school climate policy could be drafted and put into effect within the school year, Dempsey said that it was possible, but that not everything was likely to be accomplished within one year.
ReplyDeleteHello, Are they Kidding?
Honestly, did you expect a different reply? This is why nothing ever gets done. Lets just keep paying Dempsey and his staff their 6 figure salaries while our kids come home crying from another day bullying at POB.
ReplyDeleteAsk them about the the teachers contract that they are secretly negotiating now. Watch them dance around the subject. They probably will give the teachers another big fat contract like last year.
ReplyDeleteyou should not expect anything more.
ReplyDeleteHow many people go yo board meetings?
how many people go out and vote in the school election?
How many residents were at the board meetings earlier this year when they were talking about the teachers contract?
Answer: NOT ENOUGH we only have ourselves to blame
If the district would use a timeline maybe they would get things done. For example:
ReplyDeleteSurveys on school climate - review and determine and send out by Dec 1
Get back surveys by Jan 1
Figure out results by March 1
Draft policy by June 1
Approve policy by end of June so it can be enacted for next school year
Instead what will probably happen is
Talk about school climate Nov 1
Talk about surveys Dec 1
Talk more about surveys Jan 1
Bring in companies that do surveys March 1
Talk about companies that do surveys April 1
Budget time - take a break from school climate and focus on finances
Talk more about surveys June 1
Postpone decision on sending out survey to Sept
and so on
The Wellness Policy took about 5 years of meetings and many hours of BOE discussion. When it finally passed it was almost a letdown.
Mr. Dempsey is a bully himself. I do not know if anyone else has been on the receiving end of his bully mentality other than me. Out of fear for my children's well being, I prefer not to give more details than this. I'll just say that if he's called on an error or wrongdoing, he believes in the "might makes right" theory. The well being of the children is secondary to his own reputation. He can be really nasty.
ReplyDeleteI don't know his age exactly but he's up there in years. Although age should not be a factor in someone's suitability for a job, I cannot help but wonder about the possibility that his manner in handling the bullying problem and also, I must say, in dealing with women, is a result of a somewhat old fashioned school of thought. Add to that an agenda that's less focused on the child and more focused on the politics of it all and you've got a recipe for disaster.
bullying is a community problem to be sure. but all the talk on this blog is about the schools and what they do or do not do to help stop this problem. No one has mentioned anything about the responsibility that parents have to teach children the correct way to behave, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. parents need to stop passing the buck, stop trying to blame other people, we really should not need workshops to teach our children the difference between right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the Media is getting on board. On October 4, CNN's Anderson Cooper kicks off one of several anti-bullying segments. On Oct. 8, there is a town-hall antibullying presentation. Also, People magazine is devoting an issue to bullying on Oct. 8. Cartoon Network on Oct. 4 begins awareness campaign directed at kid viewers. Hey administration, let's go....
ReplyDeleteGetting a policy in place is a great first step. But let's not forget educating our kids in small group settings on a daily basis. MAP in our middle schools (as suggested at bully mtg) would be an excellent place for engaging children in antibullying activities (role playing, discussion etc.) WHY can't this start NOW? If you want to set a tone for the day, MAP is the place to start. (As it is now, kids in MAP do nothing as reported by my new 5th grader except talk to his friend.) Principals, we like you. Please get this going!
ReplyDeleteAlot of the problems with these bullies are the parents. Just go into the playarea of McDonalds or BK, the kids are pushing and shoving other kids while their mothers are busy gossiping with friends. The mother of the child being pushed around has to watch her child like a hawk. Sorry, but our neighborhood is known for this behavior. Those kids grow up to continue the same behavior because, hey, no one is going to stop me.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at where bullying starts. I was fortunate enough that I was never a target of bullying(often times avoiding situations of bullying) when I was in school in the 70's. I can say that I witnessed the rampant bullying that went on in the school(not in POB) and at the time it was accepted because nobody ever said a word about it. Kids would come to school with bruises and black eyes from fights and nothing was ever said from the school or the parents. Some of these children that were the target of bullies now as parents are advocates for their children because they do not want to see what happened to them happen to their kids . Childhood bullying affects you for the rest of your life . This is something you never forget. On the other side you have the parents that were bullies themselves as children and they now see their bully children as doing nothing wrong. I am amzed at how many parents I know that are very nice people and their kids are bullies. Are these parents that blind? I do not get it. One of the place that this is most prevelant is on the sports field where the parents live their failed sports career lives through their children and see winning as the only way of life more than their children do.
ReplyDeleteThs posting should not be interpeted as all parents of children that play sports. Stereo typing of parents is not the way to look at this problem that needs to be resolved with the help of the Parents more than school system.
what about the fact that the pta is all so worried about their name that they stay away and advise other people to stay away from any group that will rock the boat!
ReplyDeleteenough of the pta
vote new slates and let's solve the problems
not just talk for years about them!
http://www.antonnews.com/plainviewoldbethpageherald/news/10941-plainview-old-bethpage-board-of-education-revises-school-climate-policy.html
ReplyDeletehttp://www.antonnews.com/plainviewoldbethpageherald/news/10940-pob-parents-concerned-about-bullying-holds-community-forum.html
ReplyDeleteSo the fact is that we will be losing $700,00 of funding. What about the
ReplyDelete"Secret Negotiations " going on now with the PCT?
Mr Dempsey did not even mention the Secret Contract negotiations as one of hes concerns . He avoided even talking about it.