Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 06/01/1998 All articles from this issue

Local schools not putting up with bullies

printer friendly version

By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

Since the recent string of school shootings, school districts across the country have been adopting zero tolerance policies toward student harassment and threats.

In Los Altos, school and police officials say bullies are not a problem.

Brent Butler, school resource officer for the Los Altos Police Department, said he hasn't been called to the high school or the elementary schools in response to a bully incident this year. He said he has been called out to the intermediate schools "maybe once."

Dave McNulty, principal at Oak School in Los Altos, said every year the school has someone who acts like a bully, but the situations are "a one-time thing, not an ongoing thing."

The policy against harassment is strong in the Los Altos School District, said Superintendent Marge Gratiot. She said most district schools have student mediation programs, work with a schools resource officer and counselors.

"We use every resource we can find. The sooner we can deal with a problem, the smaller it seems to be," she said.

The policy at the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District is similar. When students from Los Altos High School made national headlines in 1996 after being charged with the torturing and kidnapping of a 13-year-old Crittenden Middle School student, both were expelled from the high school.

The Cupertino Union School District provides bully awareness classes for students through local law enforcement agencies.

Monique Kane, clinical director at the Community Health Awareness Council in Mountain View that serves the Los Altos School District, said nearly every school has a couple of bullies.

"Bullies are often kids who feel bad about themselves." she said. "They have a terrible self-esteem or are in a family situation often where there's rudeness or parents talk harshly to the kids."

She said quite often the bully doesn't fit in well with other classmates. Kane said the bully usually harasses other students as "an attention-building thing."

She said most bullying doesn't get beyond verbal teasing.

She said some kids are able to stand up for themselves and tell the bully to knock it off, but many times the harassment can be devastating to victims, who are often the withdrawn or vulnerable kids in the class. Many don't even want to show up at school, she said.

Kane said it is important to tell an adult, and to keep complaining until the harassment stops.

She said it's also important not to "get hooked in emotionally." If the bully doesn't get a reaction, very often the person will stop the harassment, she said.

At Oak School, where parents started a mediation program six years ago, school-ground problems have decreased significantly, McNulty said. McNulty said he believes the program helps to teach empathy to students.

He said in more serious situations, staff members step in. He said most scenarios involve some sort of teasing, but few, if any, ever escalate into physical or verbal threats.

The school also enforces what McNulty calls the "respect rule." He said any student acting disrespectful to another classmate is issued a ticket. Three-time offenders are suspended.

Arthur Harris, principal at Blach Junior High, said "there is not enough of a problem for a formal policy" at the school. He said the school deals with problems on a case-by-case basis.

"The unusually small size of our school allows us to pay a lot of attention to individual situations," he said. "Whenever possible, we teach kids self-help skills they can use to avoid future situations. We're not just in the punishment business. We're in the education business."