What follows is a wonderful, extended quotation from a Bullying case from New York. The commentary is brilliant, and it clearly lays out the problems and issues that arise when a school system fails to protect students from bullying behavior. I plan on using this in my the Complaint I am filing in Federal Court this week. I hope you find it interesting.
Bob Vogel -
rlvogel@robertvogellaw.com
1.
"In
1995, the United States Congress authorized the Safe Schools Act, 20 U.S.C. §
5961, so that students can be educated in an environment that was safe and free
from violence. Both have received strong public support and have been
reauthorized many times.
2.
"Were
bullying characterized as a disease affecting America's youth, a team from the
Center for Disease Control charged with investigating epidemics would have been
called in to study it. The problem is pervasive; it is perceived by educators
as serious, particularly in the middle school years.
3.
"Over
40 percent of teachers and support staff surveyed indicated that bullying was a
moderate or major problem in their school, with 62% indicating that they
witnessed two (2) or more incidents of bullying in the last month, 41%
witnessed bullying once a week or more. It is the most common type of violence
in our schools.
4.
"The
issue first received the attention of the American public after the 1999
shooting at Columbine High School that killed 15 students and wounded 2 dozen
more. As part of the investigation that followed the Columbine massacre, the
Secret Service examined 37 shooting incidents. They determined that in
two-thirds (2/3) of those cases, the shooter described feeling bullied,
persecuted, or threatened at school. One of the shooters stated, 'I just
remember life not being much fun," the shooter recalls, "reject,
retard, loser. I remember stick boy a lot cause I was so thin.'
5.
"More
recent stories of bullied victims taking their own lives have become common. Internationally,
the study of bullying was triggered by the suicide of three (3) young boys in
Norway in the 1980s. Some one-third (1/3) of students are engaging in
aggressive behavior directed at their peers, oftentimes with the goal of
increasing their popularity.
6.
"National
leaders and educators continue to work toward a solution. President Obama held
a summit and announced new federal programs that are aimed at 'dispelling the
myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage, or inevitable part of
growing up.' Presidential summits and school shootings achieve headlines, but
the day-to-day adverse affects in bullying in damaging educational
opportunities to students are as real as they are unnoticed. It is a problem
that effects the school performance, emotional well-being, mental health, and
social development of school children throughout the United States. Whether the
child is the victim, aggressor, or merely a bystander, research shows that
those in close vicinity to bullying are adversely marked.
7.
"Bullying
is not a new phenomenon; literature is blotted with bullies, and many people
have had personal experience with a schoolyard antagonist. The bully-victim
relationship is characterized by a real or perceived imbalance of power and
encompasses a variety of negative acts that are carried out repeatedly over
time. Negative actions can broadly be described as inflicting, or attempting to
inflict discomfort upon another. Indirect, psychological bullying, in the form
of exclusion and isolation, is often less visible, but not less corrosive.
8.
"'The
consensus among physicians and social scientists, educators and youth
development organizations, civil rights advocates and law enforcement is that
bullying is neither inevitable nor normal.'
Despite this consensus, bullying continues to occur at an alarming rate.
A study by a group of psychologists provides an illustration. While observing
groups of kindergarten and first-grade students, researchers noted an incident
of bullying on the playground every three (3) to six (6) minutes.
9.
"The
highest prevalence of bullying is among elementary school-aged children. Younger
students of both sexes are the most likely to be singled out as victims. Children
who struggle academically are more apt to be victims or both victims and
aggressors. Bullying can be carried out by an individual or a group. The victim
of school bullying is most often a single person.
10. "'Initially, victimization
is situational; only over time does the field of children who are consistently
victimized become narrowed on the basis of ongoing experience.' There is a finding that once a child is
labeled a victim, his status within the peer group drops. This leads to a
subset of children being caught up in a 'vicious cycle in which victimization
and maladjustment feed off one another.'
11. "'Youth who are victimized
are likely marginalized from the main-stream peer group, lacking access to
pro-social peers who provide role models of appropriate social skills, and also
protection against bullying.' The most
common place for victimization in elementary school is the playground, followed
by the classroom and gym class.
12. "Legislatures across the
country have been taking note of the problem in schools. In recent years,
forty-five (45) states have passed laws dealing with bullying and harassment in
schools.
13. "Every disagreement among
children does not amount to bullying. 'What distinguishes bullying from other
forms of childhood aggression, whether a hard-fought basketball game or
rough-and-tumble play, is unequal and coercive power.' It must be stressed that the term bullying is
not used when two (2) students of approximately the same strength are fighting
or quarreling. Increased power need not be actually present, but there must be
at least a perceived advantage for the bully, either physically or
psychologically. The bully/victim connection can be viewed as the opposite of a
healthy peer relationship. Peers are equals on the same social standing, while
a bullying nexus lacks equality of standing. It is the inequality, abuse, and
unfairness associated with bullying that makes it incompatible with what we
conceive as the appropriate 'American character.'
14. "Children of both genders
experience the gamut of bullying behavior. Boys are more likely to bully and to
be bullied than girls. When they do bully, boys are inclined to engage in
direct bullying such as hitting or taunting, while bullying among girls most
often takes the indirect form of social exclusion or rejection. Boys physically
striking one another and girls harassing with their words has become an
accepted part of peer culture.
15. "Children interact in
various settings: school, home, church,
neighborhoods. Within each, there are risk factors. How children interact in
these various backgrounds helps to define bullying and why children engage in
it. 'There is no one single causal factor for bullying.'
16. "When asked why certain
children are selected for ridicule, students typically point to external
differences such as 'obesity, red hair, an unusual dialect, or wearing glasses.' Research does not support this conclusion. The
one external characteristic that is likely to play a role in whether a male
child will be bullied is lack of physical strength. This does not hold true for
girls, however, who are more likely to bully those who are actually physical
stronger than they are. Differences among students in areas such as religion,
disability, or ethnicity have the ability to effect the struggle for power
among young people and lead to a student being singled out as an object of
harassment.
17. "Several other factors play
a major role in determining what makes students more likely to bully. One is
the climate of the school. When a school is not supportive, or is negative,
bullying thrives. When teachers down-play bullying or view it as kids being
kids, bullying rates are high.
18. "One study suggests that the
aura of the school with respect to bullying has more to do with whether
bullying occurs than the behavior of the victim. The school's atmosphere
includes the disciplinary system, preventive policies, the architecture of the
building itself, resources, support services, and morale. School control is at
its worse when staff and dominant students model this behavior, bullying is
ignored or reinforced, or is accepted as normal and expected.
19. "Parents play a role in
determining whether someone is likely to bully. Bullies tend to come from homes
with 'low cohesion, little warmth, absent fathers, high power needs that permit
aggressive behavior, physical abuse, poor family functioning and authoritarian
parenting. Those who are both bully and victim come from families with physical
abuse, domestic violence, hostile mothers, powerless mothers, uninvolved parents,
neglect, low warmth, inconsistent discipline, and negative environment.'
20. "Bullying may also be the
result of a life cycle where students believe it is simply their turn to play
the abusing role. A student explained he was bullying a younger student because
he thought it was his turn to do so. Children use bullying to demonstrate to
their peer group that they are able to dominate. In this way, bullying becomes
a social event where the dominance of the bully is put on display for an
audience. Research demonstrates that in 90% of observed cases, a bully was
playing to an audience. Even though a vast majority of students report that
they find it unpleasant to report bullying, the vast majority of bullying
episodes have an audience. 'Thus, the problem of bullying is also a problem of
the unresponsive bystander, whether that bystander is a classmate who finds the
harassment to be funny, or a peer who sits on the sidelines, afraid to get
involved, or an educator who sees bullying as just another part of growing up.'
21. "For those students who are
connected with their social group, bullying serves as a way to control their
peers. For those bullies who are excluded by their peers, bullying represents a
way to lash out at a social system that keeps them on the periphery. A majority of bullies who are marginalized are
male; students being controlled by their peer group are evenly split between
both genders.
22. "These bullies who are
integrated within their peers' social groups are easy to ignore or
mischaracterize – leading two (2 ) researchers to describe them as 'hidden in
plain sight.' They have a variety of
friends and possess strengths such as good social skills, athleticism, and
attractiveness.
23. "Culture is weighty in
determining why someone will bully. Television, video games, and the internet
may be linked to increased aggression and an increased likelihood for bullying
behavior. These influences, if they have
any effect at all, are not as strong as other cultural influences such as the
neighborhood and the environment in which the child is raised.
24. "If nothing is done to
rectify the situation, a bully is likely to continue bullying and victimization
continues. Thus, without a change in the dynamic, a child who suffers at the
hands of a tormentor is unlikely to be able to escape, and the effects of
bullying are likely to continue unabated. Each child can be bully, victim or
bystander, and with each of those labels comes different, but often related,
consequences.
25. "The typical victim of
bullying is more anxious and insecure than his or her peers. She [or he] is
more likely to be quiet, sensitive and have low self-esteem. It is important to
note, however, that not all victims react in the same way. 'Students who are
bullied in school have no escape from bullying other than feigning illness and
staying home, which is a very temporary reprieve.' Not surprisingly, being a victim is most
strongly associated with the feeling that one did not belong at school, and in
increase in the classroom days missed. 'Feeling as though one did not belong at
school was most strongly associated with being a victim; the odds of members of
this group being a victim were 4.1 times higher than those who felt they
belonged at school.' 'For students who
felt sad most days, their odds of being a victim were 1.8 times higher than the
odds of being a victim among those who did not feel sad most days. Being sad
most days is known to be a precursor or diagnosis of major depression.'
26. "'The take home message is
that elementary school-aged children…who struggle academically are more likely to
be victims or bully-victims.' Bullying
brings with it a whole host of other issues. It impairs concentration and leads
to poor academic performance. Additionally, victims are more likely to engage
in antisocial behavior, have increased health problems, and struggle to adjust
emotionally. Being the victim of bullying is related to sliding grades,
absenteeism, poor academic achievement, being lonely, exhibiting withdrawal
behaviors, difficulty acting assertively, or being aggressive. Youth involved
in bullying – as bully, victim or both – consistently reported significantly
higher levels of health problems, poor emotional adjustment and poor school
adjustment than non-involved youth. Victims and bully-victims also consistently
reported significantly poorer relationships with classmates than uninvolved
youths.
27. "Victims who are friends of
a non-victim peer are less likely to internalize problems such as feelings of
depression and sadness. Even children as
young as those in first grade who have one (1) friend and do not suffer in
isolation, have fewer problems than children who have no peer to rely upon. 'The
victims are lonely and abandoned at school. As a rule, they do not have a single
good friend in their class.' This
solitude perpetuates feelings of shame and unattractiveness, and a belief that
the victim is stupid.
28. "Children with feelings of
rejection and loneliness, withdraw and have trouble making new friends. 'Withdrawal
because the child is rejected by peers places the child at greater risk of
isolation than is the case of children who prefer to play alone or are socially
anxious.' Victims have lower self-esteem
and begin blaming themselves for what is happening. 'Self-esteem drops once a
child becomes a victim…they blame themselves for being victimized and give in
quickly or respond in a disorganized manner when they are teased or bullied.' 'Self-views are unlikely to change for the
better, unless the child who has been victimized becomes more accepted in the
group.'
29. "The end of school does not
bring an end to the damage done by years of harassment. As a result of this
trapped setting, where harassment is a repeated occurrence, victims carry lasting
emotional and psychological scars into adulthood. A study found that those who
were bullied for at least three (3) years in grade six (6) through nine (9),
had higher rates of depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem when they were 23
years old.
30. "Not surprisingly, a bully
is likely to have an aggressive attitude. He will probably have a positive
attitude towards violence and a strong self-image. Typically, he will be of
average popularity and often will be surrounded by a small group of friends who
support him.
31. "'The bullies don't do well
later on.' Despite his center position
in the school social hierarchy, the impact of being the bully will leave a
lasting adverse mark. Perpetrators of bullying report being sad most days, and
have somewhat the same depressive symptoms as victims. 'Students who felt
unsafe and sad most days had 2.5 and 1.5 times the odds of being a bully.' Bullies themselves typically have more health
problems and poor emotional adjustment than students not involved in bullying.
32. "Bullying behavior may
simply be the beginning of an antisocial behavioral pattern that will endure
during the tormentor's entire life. Those students who start bullying early on
in their academic lives are more likely to assault or sexually harass their classmates
in high school. As young people continue to grow up, bullying may be a
precursor to violence in dating.
33. "Bullies and bully-victims,
but not victims, consistently reported significantly more alcohol use. Bullying
can also be viewed as a component of a more generally antisocial and
rule-breaking conduct disordered behavior pattern. From this perspective, it is
natural to predict that youngsters who are aggressive and bully others, run a
clearly increased risk of later engaging in other problem behaviors, such as
criminality and alcohol abuse. A number of recent studies confirm their general
prediction. Additionally, bullies are more likely than non-bullies to commit a
felony in the future. One study indicated that bullying was clearly a precursor
to later violent behavior for this group, although, of course, not all bullies
would persist along this pathway towards violence. In one study, 60% of boys
identified as bullies in grade six (6) to nine (9), had at least one (1)
conviction by age 24, and 35% to 45% of them had three (3) or more convictions.
This is a four-fold increase in the level of criminality over that of
non-bullies. Victims had an average, or below average, chance of engaging in
future criminality.
34. "'Chronic bullying has a
cost for society, as well as for the individual and, of course, the victim.' The children who they harass are left to try
to move on after years of uncontroverted harassment. The bullies themselves, through their own
actions, are more likely to require social services, educational services, and
criminal justice services.
35. "Bullies typically operate
in front of a crowd, and the students who act as onlookers do not escape the
effects of bullying. These students, who often watch, or even step away from
the bullying actions, are more likely to feel powerless and to be fearful at
school. Bystanders feel as though they are incapable of controlling the
situation, and thus are not themselves safe.
36. "Students may go along with
the group and the bullying behavior out of fear that if they were to speak up,
they might lose their space within the peer group and open themselves up to be
the next victim. As times goes on, if bullying persists at a high level,
bystanders become desensitized and are less willing to step in to prevent the
harassment."
T.K.
and S.K., individually, and on behalf of L.K. vs. New York City Department of
Education, 779 F.Supp.2d
289 (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, April 25, 2011)
(internal citations omitted).
Bullying can be prevented, especially when the power of a community is brought together. Community-wide strategies can help identify and support children who are bullied, redirect the behavior of children who bully, and change the attitudes of adults and youth who tolerate bullying behaviors in peer groups, schools, and communities. 
Bullying can threaten students’ physical and emotional safety at school and can negatively impact their ability to learn. The best way to address bullying is to stop it before it starts. There are a number of things school staff can do to make schools safer and prevent bullying.
Parents, school staff, and other caring adults have a role to play in preventing bullying. They can: 