A colleague once said to me that it’s hard to teach one’s own kids to behave properly and treat peers with kindness and respect because we’ve evolved into a bullying society.
This piqued my interest. I have been hearing and reading so much about cyber bullying in the Washington education arena. It’s amazing how simple this can be – for example, the insecure teenager who is sent an anonymous message, “I hate you. Everybody else hates you too.”
The popular movie Bully just came out on March 30th and represents the “thirteen million kids [who] will be bullied in the US each year,” with devastating results. More importantly, one review highlights the positive message that “Bully encourages kids to stand up to bullies, not stand by, and reinforces the fact that everyone can make a difference when it comes to this essential issue.”
This is so important to ingrain in kids. I recently enjoyed the story about an arrogant teen who went from teachers’ nightmare to teachers’ favorite when he checked his friend who punched a mentally retarded student in the face. I personally remember spending a lot of time in school helping out bullied kids as I simultaneously worked to avoid becoming the target.
Interestingly, the review by Common Sense Media also comments on the portrayal of adults in the film describing how, “Victims’ parents are generally portrayed as supportive and loving, while school administrators come off in a much less positive light.” This raises an important issue, because one has to consider where bullying stems from… and how we, as adults, treat each other. It seems natural that the parents of bullied kids are supporting and loving, but what about the parents of the bullies? Is our current societal “average” in a place where we like it? And where do teachers, administrators, and educational leaders fall into this spectrum?
One could argue that the education reform movement has been fraught with bullying.The Lottery portrays the brutal struggle between the teachers union and charter school leaders like Eva Moskowitz. Michelle Rhee, the coveted DC education reformer was featured on the cover of Time magazine holding a broom, and invited reporters film her firing a DC school principal. This is the same leader who was commended in the US Presidential debates, alongside competitive measures like Race to the Top and I3 grants, with NCLB in the background holding educators “accountable.” Well, we all know about the “culture of fear” that surrounded the Atlanta cheating scandal, as well as other cities. I personally remember a teacher who got rated incompetent because the administrative team deliberately withheld memos and would then penalize her for not showing up to key meetings.
Over the years I have seen many instances of education getting mean, when schools could otherwise be perfect opportunities for adults to create calm, caring environments for children and adults, alike. I am the first one to champion educational excellence, but we are not Machiavelli, and the means IS to be considered. I hope that as we watch this hit movie, we can also turn the camera to ourselves and, as passionate educators, begin the process of rebuilding our relationships with one another.
