Official response often insufficient, they say
By Jennifer L. Williams, jwilliams@dailypress.com | 247-464411:28 PM EDT, June 5, 2010
Some parents of children who have suffered at the hands of bullies don't think nearly enough is being done to curb the disruptive and sometimes devastating behavior.
The deaths of two Peninsula-area high school students, who were allegedly bullied and committed suicide in the past month, have highlighted the persistent problem.
Christian Taylor, a 16-year-old Grafton High School freshman, took his own life Monday and his mother Alise Williams' outrage at York County school and law enforcement officials prompted an investigation.
Mary Mushinsky said bullying added to her son, George Mushinsky's low self-esteem and was a contributing factor to his suicide on May 18 in Williamsburg.
"He didn't complain or come home and cry, but I think it ate away at him," Mary Mushinsky said.
George was bullied at both Walsingham Academy and Warhill High School, and had stopped going to school completely at the time of his death, Mary Mushinsky said.
"He was definitely harassed at Walsingham and at Warhill," she said. "For different reasons, but he did experience it, mostly because he was different."
At Walsingham Academy, a group of four "jocks" who were upperclassmen used to follow her son around and call him "emo" and say: "Why don't you go cut yourself?," Mary Mushinsky said. At another point, a group of students threw George into a wall.
She is still unsure how much of a role bullying played in George's death, but she urges tolerance.
"My message is always be kind to your fellow classmates, and it's the same way with adults," Mary Mushinsky said.
All local school districts have anti-bullying policies and initiatives in place, as required by state law. Over the years school-specific programs in York have helped raise awareness among students, staff and parents, said York County School Division Superintendent Eric Williams.
"Even with these efforts, we realize there's always room to improve and we continually look for additional ways to combat bullying in our schools," Williams said.
Kelly Torrey, a special education teacher at Heritage High School, in Newport News, was outspoken about the overall need for more of a remedy for bullying. Her son experienced problems with it at Mount Vernon Elementary School, in York, and she said the school administration was very responsive when she got involved.
This past week, Torrey had a classroom discussion on bullying and, in confidence, all nine of her students told her they either had been bullied, bullied someone else, had seen another student being bullied or had a friend who had been victimized.
Torrey feels confrontations between students need to be handled in the classroom, as soon as a student asks a teacher for help.
"At the end of the day, we've got to learn to be able to respect one another for all of our differences — it's that simple," Torrey said. "And it angers me that we now have a child that's dead, when it should've been solved a long time ago."
Other parents whose children were bullied wanted a stronger response from school officials.
Melissa James' son had his feet repeatedly stomped on at Yorktown Middle School from March until about two weeks ago, she said. At one point, her son fought back and a teacher dropped him while trying to restrain him. Her son went to the hospital with injuries to his head, shoulder and ribs, James said.
"It got to the point where I was checking out books to do home school for my son because they weren't doing anything about these bullies," James said.
After school officials failed to stop the behavior, James got the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office involved. She didn't press charges, but had them speak with other students' parents and the situation has improved, she said.
A theme repeated among parents is that they tell their children to report abuse to a school official. But the result is not much disciplinary action and escalated harassment from other students, they say.
Theresa Lackey said her daughter, a student at Grafton High School, was repeatedly followed, called names and cursed at by another girl. Lackey called the sheriff's office and officials did a remediation between the girls.
"The girl harassed my daughter more for telling on her, and my daughter's at the point that she can't trust these people to help her," Lackey said. "That's sad, because who are our children supposed to go to for help when they're at school?
"Where is the training these teachers are supposed to receive to enforce the no-tolerance policy?"
Kristy Spurgeon's son was assaulted by another student at Yorktown Middle School, she said. Although the boy was charged with assault and battery, he was allowed back into school and continued to harass Spurgeon's son. He also stuck another student 14 times with a push pin before being suspended again, Spurgeon said.
"The school did not deal with the incident appropriately," Spurgeon said. "Due to the extent of my son's injuries, and only because I called the police to the school, was the child arrested for assault and battery.
"It's unbelievable what we've dealt with."
Just prior to that, a student threatened to stab her son with a pocket knife if he told anybody about the knife being at school, Spurgeon said.
Niza Moore's daughter had repeated problems with another girl at Hampton High School, even after school officials intervened, Moore said. After being picked on and called names over and over, her daughter got into a fight and is now suspended from school.
"They didn't take it seriously at all. Even when I went to talk to them, they kind of brushed it off," Moore said. "When I send my child to school, they're responsible for them and that's why we're paying for security officers to be at school.
"How are you learning when you're being picked on every day?"
Local teen suicides prompt concern
Two local students who were allegedly bullied have committed suicide in the past month. Christian Taylor, a 16-year-old Grafton High School freshman, died Monday. His mother says he was repeatedly harassed at school. Law enforcement officials have opened an investigation.
George Mushinsky committed suicide May 18 in Williamsburg. His mother says bullying added to low self-esteem and was a contributing factor in his death.
No comments:
Post a Comment