Bullying at the Hands of Staff is a Problem in Schools

In too many districts, the notion that staff bully students is scoffed at and simply dismissed.  There are psychological reports that bare out that bullying is not a mere fiction of overzealous parents and their advocates.

A recent report from the American Journal of Psychiatry revealed that bullying at the hands of teachers was a problem in schools.   This study was conducted based on anonymous teacher reporting, and it concluded “that teachers who bully students may have some role in the etiology of behavioral problems in schoolchildren.”   That is, teacher bullying leads to children acting out and having disciplinary problems.

In my own practice, I have seen the physical abuse of students, often children on the autism spectrum who have been accosted by staff.   One young child had one side of his face badly bruised, another child was injured as he was dragged up stairs, and in another case, a child was kicked in his chest and bruised by his elementary school teacher.   Verbal abuse also occurs all too frequently.

Staff does not readily speak up to report issues in school.   When staff does speak out, they do so at risk of their jobs, as a speech therapist in New Jersey discovered.   The speech therapist, Shirley Graves, and other therapists objected when the administration fraudulently altered IEP documents; services were being documented and not delivered.   Graves was fired and others were forced to resign.

The paradox is that teachers and therapists see other staff and administration committing abusive and illegal conduct, but are intimidated into remaining silent at risk of their jobs.   While abusive and illegal acts may not be the norm, parents need to be aware that such things occur and are ignored and covered up as part of the culture of schools.   Awareness of the peculiar culture of schools is often a key element in undertaking effective advocacy for children with special needs.

Comments

[Linda Manuel]

I teach elementary special education. I'm joining a blog in order to fulfill a graduate class requirement.

[Chelle]

My son and his teacher were bullied by a teacher with 15 years tenure. She did this by only bullying my son when his teacher was not right there to protect him. His teacher and I wanted to report it, but were afraid because she was new to the school and did not want to risk her or my son being bullied more or losing her job.

My son reported the abuse to the principal himself. The principal was supposed to arrange a meeting between my son and the bully/teacher, but decided not to when he noticed she seemed to be leaving him alone.

She wasn't, though. The bullying continued, but on a much smaller scale. His teacher and I were aware of it, but without her usual screaming fits, it was hard to prove.

Then, the principal was transferred and a new one came in, and the bully/teacher went right back to her old antics.

One day when my son's teacher was home sick, the bully/teacher saw a child who was standing near my son throw a rock at a new portable classroom. So she stormed over to my son, got right up in his face and screamed at him for it.

When the substitute told me she'd had a problem with my son, several of his fellow classmates came to me and told me what had really happened.

I tried to talk to the bully/teacher, but she was uncooperative, so I took it up with the new principal.

She agreed with me and told everyone that the bully/teacher was to leave my son alone--PERIOD! If she saw him misbehaving, she was to get another teacher or an administrator and not handle him herself.

[Holly Stevens]

Thanks for bringing to others' attention the very real issue of TEACHER bullying. I thought your readers might be interested in this essay on the use of storytelling in countering school bullying in all of its forms:

As a child, she once stood by while a friend taunted another friend, and she felt diminished. Later, she bravely intervened in a similar situation and found herself empowered. Today, Lincoln, Mass., storyteller and mental health counselor Elisa Pearmain shares her stories and draws out the stories of others in her bullying prevention workshops. Read her essay "Once upon a caring classroom: Bullying prevention through story" in today's issue of The Storyteller and the Listener Online.

Full graphics URL: http://storyteller-and-listener.blog-city.com/elisa_pearmain.htm (Functions like a newsletter)
Text-only URL: http://storyteller-and-listener-text-only.blog-city.com/current_essay.htm (New! Functions like a blog, with readers comments enabled)

The Storyteller and the Listener Online, a noncommercial blog-newsletter, publishes two guest essays each month on the role of story and narrative in peacemaking, healing, bridge building and reconciliation in local communities. Essays and readers come from all over the English-speaking world. Essay proposals are welcome; contact editor Holly Stevens at healing_stories@mac.com

[Diana Goldman]

Have you ever heard of a child who is bullied by a group of peers, has the courage to stand with her convictions that she will not let the bullies force her to move from the table she has sat at all year,(they would steal her book too) yet instead of the school staff helping, they suspend her? What a great message we're giving to the future generation. Thanks for standing with the people who need help to be heard!!

[Rob Smith]

An excellent website for those interested in bullying prevention is bullyingprevention. This site features information from bullying prevention expert Gail Nachimson.

[David Cockrell]

My son has a diagnosis of Aspergers and was bullied in school by peers as well as staff. He was not allowed to continue un band as an 'A' student midway through the year when his IEP was written.Could not attend assemblies, go onto the recreation field and the felt that he should not continue to be in P.E.
Documentation has been falsified and agreements modified after they were signed.
My son's peers were not allowed to see him as an equal based on the staff's prejudice.
No that our school district is providing virtual courses for us to teach my son with, they are using their position to falsify records that contradict their own records that were available during the time that they are misrepresenting.