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Comment by 'ckevqjzcw' on Subtle, Powerful Influences of Adults

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Comment by 'Brian Koenig' on Subtle, Powerful Influences of Adults

Brian Koenig — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:07:15 +0000

It turns out kids who bully are not a clearly defined group that can be detected easily. Many students in middle school, for example, are involved in bullying behavior - some more, some less. Also, about 65% of bullying happens out of the view of adults at school. And, some interesting research has shown that adults are pretty bad at judging acts of bullying or identifying chronic bulliers. So, in practice, this would be hard to implement, and raises a lot of practical, if not ethical questions. Nevertheless, many students who are the targets of bullying would probably cheer your suggestion. When surveyed the majority of kids in schools say adults do very little to help them and it doesn't pay to report antisocial behavior.

Comment by 'ck' on Subtle, Powerful Influences of Adults

ck — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:03:52 +0000

Why isn't it possible to segregate out the students who are showing anti-social behaviors? Just as we don't feed all the students breakfast because some of them don't need it, why not just focus on dealing with the kids with the anti-social behavior? If they are segregated out you have removed a disruptive influence from the other students and at least have provided a safe, pleasant environment for the rest of them to learn free from the bully's interference. The educational experience can be preserved for the greatest number of students possible. The bullies can be dealt with separately.

Comment by 'Brian Koenig' on Subtle, Powerful Influences of Adults

Brian Koenig — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:06:19 +0000

I would suggest considering this problem more narrowly. Are students able to learn? Is the social part of the school day, which can't be avoided, scary, distracting, unpleasant? If they can't concentrate or are miserable at school then nothing else matters. If the purpose of school is to provide an education and kids aren't getting an education, even if the cause is social in origin, then the point of school is lost. A neighbor said to me, regarding school breakfasts, "We're not their parents. They should get breakfast at home." Well, if we can give them breakfast and they do better in school, then haven't we done our job? Maybe breakfast becomes something like textbooks, heat and quiet hallways, a necessary ingredient to a good education. Maybe a positive school climate is a another necessary ingredient.

Comment by 'CK' on Subtle, Powerful Influences of Adults

CK — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:08:11 +0000

I agree with your assessment of the problem during the school day. However, unless we accurately identify the real source of the child's antisocial behavior we have little chance of finding a solution. As a five year member of my local school board I found we continually look to our schools as the only answer to every problem a child encounters in life. While the schools have the student for approximately 6 hours a day during the work week, the parents, their friends and society at large have as great or greater influence on the student's behavior. Yet no one seems willing to identify these other influences as being a potential source of the problem. We all know they exist but feel helpless to deal with them. Certainly the schools have a role to play but until we muster the courage to accurately identify all the sources of the child's antisocial behavior looking to the schools as the answer will only be partially effective at best. How do we hold the parents accountable for their role in creating the child's antisocial behavior? How do we change their influence? It seems we have neither the resources nor the will to do so. Until we do I feel the schools will have a difficult time dealing with these issues.