Bully patrol
Why don't schools do more to stop bullying? Here's one that did
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Throughout this long career in education, principal Stephen Lambert* thought he’d seen just about every possible bullying situation. Then, last year, a phone call from a parent opened up a whole new — and deeply disturbing — world.
The concerned parent asked Lambert if the rumours were true. What rumours? Lambert replied. About the students who are having sex, the parent said. Lambert was stunned. As the popular principal of a middle school in a tidy, middle-class Ontario neighbourhood, he prided himself on having good relationships with the school’s 380 grades seven and eight students. But he hadn’t heard any sex rumours. “All the kids are talking about it,” the parent continued. “It’s on Facebook.”
Lambert immediately enlisted the help of his tech-savvy vice-principal, Tamara Evans.* After speaking with a few students, Evans learned about a free, now defunct Facebook application called Bathroom Stall. Just like in a real bathroom stall, you could write whatever you wanted about whomever you wanted, and you didn’t have to sign your name. But unlike in a real bathroom stall, your words went out to the whole world.
The vice-principal was stunned by what she saw. The posts targeted some of the brightest, most athletic and best-liked girls at the school. There were graphic descriptions of sex, most too obscene to print, and outright threats of violence. “10 reasons why ***** is an a**hole,” began one, followed by descriptions of explicit sex acts. Another read, “I hate her...OMFG she tried to like rape my boyfriend...I wanted to kill her.”
*Names changed by request.
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What do you think?
Guest_332991 says ....
Great well written and balanced article. The comments on the facebook app defy logic?? Why do kids at that age even know about that stuff? I am not sure I even know about it. I have two kids 15 and 8. Neither are interested in facebook. The oldest one wanted a phone for high school but we said "NO". It is too easy for a number to get passed around and that is where it starts. If the kids don't have the technology they can't get in trouble with it. My daughter has bee verbally bullied in her class by a very nasty but adorable boy. Hard to put those two together but his actions defy logic also. He uses grade eight language on her and acts totally defiant and even lies about what he said to her. Were does a grade three boy get the word F and Lesbian from??? Home obviously. We sure need to stay in our kids lives. I forwarded this article to my daughters school teacher, principal and vice principal. Thanks for a great article.