Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Bullying

Last week's St. Al's bulletin had as an insert this March 1, 2007 Newsletter [2 pp. pdf] from the Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response Services of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Notice there's much about detecting and preventing bullying, but not explicitly about actually stopping it, or about adverse consequences for the bully.

Someone told me that was exactly their experience. Their child was being bullied by a another student, and they reported this. There were meetings and suggestions, including bringing in a mediator to work out the issues between the bully and the bullied. But the bully wasn't disciplined, and the bully's parents weren't informed. Since it was one of the consolidated Catholic schools, the pastor disclaimed any authority over the situation. Last I heard, the bullied child's parents were fed up and planned to move their kid to a different school next year.

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