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My View

In my nearly 30 years in public education, starting as a teacher and ending as a superintendent, I’ve pretty much seen it all. I’ve seen and dealt with student behavior of all types, and I have to say that right now, I am worried. More worried than I have ever been about our kids. It is time we stop ignoring the elephant in the room when it comes to bullying.

Schools are the scapegoat, not the problem. There are laws in place that require schools to investigate and respond to alleged incidents of bullying (no matter where the bullying took place), employ appropriate consequences, offer remedial programs and support for the perpetrators and support for the victims themselves. I believe most schools are vigilantly enforcing these laws to protect victims, yet children continue to be bullied and schools continue to get blamed for it.

Why? Because bullying is not a school issue. It’s not even a bully issue. It is a parenting issue. Or rather, a lack of parenting.