Lakeland Middle school encourages bullying.

[normaray]

Zero tolerance Lakeland middle school is a joke. It seems as though this school system has not learned that this behavior can affect everyone. The child being bullied will suffer severally, there school work, there self esteem, there trust in adults. These things are all robed from a child who gets bullied every day. But even the children who are not being bullied, possibly even your child could be affected by this behavior if it is continuously tolerated by Lakeland. Odiously columbine thought our lakeland staff nothing. Children who are bullied act out, In different ways. Mass amounts of our children in this nation are taking there own lives and taking the lives of others. The behavior is being tolerated and the disciplinary actions being implemented are not ones that will keep our children safe. Bullying is real and very real at Lakeland, and these children are not getting expelled. So knowing this I hope that you feel safe sending your child to lakeland. I know i don't. Is your child a victim? Something needs to be done before something bad happens.

[Common-Tater]

Schools usually respond at the threat of litigation. There are anti-bully laws in the state of Indiana. However, I've seen parents forbidden to speak at school board meetings who wish to address bullying. I've heard of schools being in discussion to tell teacher not to listen to reports of bullying; figuring if the school is unaware of the issue, they don't have to address it. Or they make kids sign a contract stating they won't bully other kids. A contract...are you serious? School boards will not take the threat seariously until a large band of parents make it a bigger issue. Of course, the media could always help out (KPC) by publishing stories about bullying that occurs at our local schools.

[HoosierHelen]

Normaray,

What you say is true, the bully problem has become wide spread in our school systems. You obviously are concerned about your child's safety at Lakeland school. Have you visited with your child's teacher and also the principal at the school? I would recommend talking to both of them. I also would start a journal and keep a record of each incident your child reports to you. The teacher and principal should know that you are keeping these records.

I'm thinking that by keeping these records you may accomplish 2 things. The circumstances surrounding each incident may reveal a pattern that you and your child are not yet aware exists. This might enable you to make suggestions to your child that would empower him/her to avoid these conflicts. This does not mean that the incidents are your child's fault. Just that you may be able to assist him/her in finding a solution that will help to prevent these incidents. The other benefit of keeping a journal record with the teacher and principal fully informed that you are doing so should raise their awareness of exactly how serious you are taking this situation.

I'm certainly not a trained professional in knowing how to handle problems of this kind. However, I am a mother experienced in raising children. I remember my stress level when I realized that one of my sons had a classmate who lost all of his upper teeth due to a bully in their class. In that case the bully was on the wrestling team, he attacked the classmate in the local McDonalds parking lot, placed the young man face down on the cement curb and then stomped on the young mans mouth. Both students were in the 10th grade at the time. This occurred when we lived in Oklahoma. The bully was NOT expelled from school.

My sincere best wishes to you in your efforts to resolve this problem.

[Common-Tater]

Normaray,
I remember my stress level when I realized that one of my sons had a classmate who lost all of his upper teeth due to a bully in their class. In that case the bully was on the wrestling team, he attacked the classmate in the local McDonalds parking lot, placed the young man face down on the cement curb and then stomped on the young mans mouth. Both students were in the 10th grade at the time. This occurred when we lived in Oklahoma. The bully was NOT expelled from school.

Didn't happen on school property - not the responsibility of the school. But charges should have been pressed agasint the boy. Let the law take care of that sort of thing. Make the parents of the boy pay for the dental bill.

[HoosierHelen]

Didn't happen on school property - not the responsibility of the school. But charges should have been pressed agasint the boy. Let the law take care of that sort of thing. Make the parents of the boy pay for the dental bill.

I understand what you are saying about it not happening on school property. The McDonalds was across the street from the school and a place that many students visited before walking home after school. I don't know the details as to whether the bully's parents had to pay for the dental bill or if the bully had any legal charges filed against him. Inasmuch as he was still a minor, I imagine that type of info was not made public.

The instructions that I gave my son was that he was NOT to stop into that McDonalds after school again. He wasn't happy to hear this originally, however, it turned out that other parents had given their children the same instructions. He did not feel so isolated once he recognized he wasn't the only one not going there anymore. I do believe that by myself and other parents changing the pattern of where/when our kids 'hooked up' after school helped prevent a continued bully behavior.

As parents we did alternate invitations to our homes for after school snacks and what they called 'hook ups' back then. There were still the sports that our kids participated in at high school where parents could not always be present. I just remember the stress levels I dealt with during that time. I did NOT want to project my fears onto my son, so I did my best to explain with confidence he is going to be able to avoid these situations if he uses his head and listens to my instructions. I was certainly winging it. Thankfully, it worked!

[Mr Douglas]

VERY sore subject with me...