Bullying on K-12 campuses is a serious problem that merits our renewed attention. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that 28 percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 are harassed at school.
There’s no excuse for a school culture that – either overtly or tacitly – permits students to be mistreated. Most reasonable people can reach consensus on this. But while educators and parents may agree that bullying must be stopped, they often part ways when it comes to just how to get the job done.
At issue in many cases is the way “bullying policies” are worded. Are broad-based, blanket injunctions against all forms of student harassment sufficient? Or should officials instead confer explicit protections to students based on things like sexual orientation and gender identity?
On Tuesday night, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (CMS) school board held a public hearing to address this issue, and to vote on a new district-wide bullying policy. Officials there are keenly aware of the prevalence of bullying. A survey of student behavior in the CMS district, released in February, found that 26 percent of middle school (.pdf) kids and 20 percent of high school (.pdf) students said they had been bullied or harassed on school property last year.
During the meeting, some 40 speakers expressed support for, or concern about, the board’s proposed anti-bullying measure (.pdf). Controversy centered around the fact that the policy extends protection to students based on issues such as “sexual orientation” and “gender identity/expression.” Despite the objections of parents and several board members, the policy was ultimately approved.
For the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), these kinds of bullying policies are an integral part of a larger “safe schools campaign.” GLSEN actively advocates for policies and legislation that enumerate student protected status based on sexual orientation and gender identity. GLSEN is also sponsoring the upcoming national Day of Silence – scheduled for April 25 – when students agree not to speak during the school day to focus attention on bullying faced by gay, lesbian, and transgender students.
For many parents, though, interjecting overt references to sexual orientation into school policies is troubling. The CMS bullying measure gives the superintendent authority to publish the policy, and to implement annual training for students and staff. This means that children, even in elementary school, are likely to be exposed to regular discussions about homosexuality, bisexuality, gay parenting, and cross-dressing.
Such issues ought to be addressed in living rooms, not classrooms. The parent group opposed to the CMS bullying measure, CMS Policy Watch, agrees, saying, “The debate about social values should take place among adults and between parents and children in their own homes. Keep the social values debate out of the classroom and hallways, especially at elementary school.” These parents had hoped for a more general bullying policy, like the one approved by the state board of education.
The CMS policy is flawed for another reason as well. It fails to spell out what comprises objectionable behavior. At Tuesday’s hearing, NCEA Director Lindalyn Kakadelis, said, “Until there is a clear, concise definition of what constitutes bullying, the enforcement will never be consistent, equitable, or perhaps even possible.”
Once defined, bullying must be rigorously stomped out by schools. But officials are kidding themselves if they think they can alter rampant name-calling and bullying without first cracking down on serious physical violence. Last year, according to state school violence and crime data, CMS reported (.pdf) 59 assaults on school personnel, 17 bomb threats, 412 incidents of possession of a weapon, and 10 sexual assaults. Clearly, much more than talk and policies will be needed to turn this kind of violence around.
As they seek to combat bullying, administrators in Charlotte and elsewhere must also remember this: when it comes to sensitive conversations about sexual orientation, parents ought to have the floor. Parents, after all, have earned the right to ensure their voices are the ones children hear in discussions about values and sexuality. School boards: don’t bully that pulpit.