Bullying in Plain Sight

Your child is walking through the hallway on his way to class during a class change. He is about ten feet past the adult hallway supervisor who is talking with several students. Suddenly, he gets sucker-punched by a student passing in the other direction, and he falls to the floor in a heap of books and broken glasses. No other student says a word. The adult supervisor asks your child what happened. Your child says, "Somebody hit me." "Who?" he asks. "I don't know," he says, either truthfully or otherwise.

Later, the guidance counselor finds out who the perpetrator was and calls your son and the bully in to discuss their differences-another example of no justice being provided for the bullied individual.

Perhaps the hall Supervisor says to the suspected perpetrator, "Did you hit him?" When the perpetrator denies doing the bullying, the supervisor, unable to prove the truth, says, "If your name is involved in something like this again, you are going straight to the office, do you understand me?" The bully nods, trying not to laugh. No justice once again for your child.

This book mentions many ways that bullying occurs in your "good school"-right under everyone's noses. It's time to raise the emotional intelligence level of the adults if there is the slightest hope of making the incidence of bullying decrease. It's not going away because the adults, knowingly or otherwise, prefer order and peace over justice. Read the book, then go to school and make a fuss.