Bullying committed by adults
Bullying has become a national issue. It often brings to mind school bullying between children, but bullying can involve adults, even bullying teachers. Teachers can sometimes be the bully.
Teachers can be involved in bullying in three ways: as observers, as perpetrators, and as victims. As observers, teachers can help prevent or stop bullying or perpetuate it. This article will deal with bullying in which teachers take part themselves, on one side or the other.
Bullying Teachers
Is this what we really want to teach our kids?
Bullying is starting to get national attention and be taken more seriously than in days past. But the focus is decidedly on kid-on-kid abuse. While the mean girls, the taunters and tormentors, the physical abusers, and the excluders are very real threats, so too are educators who abuse their power over the very kids they are supposed to protect.
But when teachers verbally and even physically abuse kids, the abuse is often blatant and rarely called what it is—bullying—reinforcing the false notion that only kids, not the grown-ups in charge, are bullies.
Amid mounting data that bullying is on the rise, there’s a glaring absence of statistics on adult school bullies. In part, perhaps, because bullying by a teacher or principal is far more complex to identify, address, and rectify. It’s difficult to know what to make of a teacher who crosses the line from basic discipline to regularly berating, intimidating, humiliating (and even physically abusing) a student—so much so that a child's afraid to be in school.
What do you do if the school bully is your child's teacher?
First thing you have to do is document, document, document. Write down the date, the time, and exactly what happened. Despite the obvious pain you’re feeling as a parent, it’s crucial to be as reasonable and objective as possible.
If the situation isn't too egregious, meet with the teacher to see if you can find a resolution. If that doesn't work, learn what you can from everyone at school—your child, other kids, parents in the class. Volunteer at school, drive the carpool, keep your ear to the ground, all the while documenting everything you learn. During this fact-finding period, start building a support network of parents—after all, one parent's complaints can easily be waved off, while a group of concerned parents has more chance of being heard.
Parents shouldn't storm the principal’s office right away. Follow the chain of command—starting with a senior teacher or the head of that teacher’s department, then the vice principal, principal, principal’s supervisor, and superintendent. This approach works in your favor for two reasons: One, the closer someone is to the problem, the more likely they’ll be able to take swift, effective action; and two, when you go to the top, one of the first questions will be, 'Who have you talked to about this, and what did they say?' If you can’t answer effectively, you’re likely to be directed back to those you’ve skipped. And always document every bullying incident. If you have documentation for a couple of months, they can’t ignore that. Also, if they try to, I’d say 'I’m going to the newspaper.'
A battle kids can’t fight
When it comes to protecting kids from bully teachers, sadly kids are in a vulnerable position—and ill-equipped to fight the battle on their own and there’s no real silver lining—but there are different routes parents can take. Following certain protocol—like documenting every incident, building a support system, and working up the chain of command—can protect kids from continued trauma at the hands of a bully teacher and save them from the ordeal of leaving a school altogether. But the fight to protect your child from a bully teacher may not (and usually won’t) be easy.
