Since coming to TAS I have seen little if any bullying. I know that is what everyone says when in fact stuff is happening all around them. Danah Boyd indicates this exact thing in the article “Bullying” Has Little Resonance with Teenagers. In my past schools I did see bullying so when I compare to those schools, TAS either has very little or TAS students are better at hiding it from adults. Or it could be a 3rd reason; I am just getting older and more out of sync with what is really going on. I would like to think that as an AP Physics teacher at TAS I am getting a select group of students who are the best we have at TAS. It is likely some of all of the above why I perceive little bullying at TAS.
As a parent of a daughter in KA, the whole bullying idea has been on my mind lately. I don’t mean to imply that there is bullying in KA, but the girl group dynamics have started. My daughter comes home from school each day with stories about what happens in a 4 year olds school day. Things like _____ won’t play with me, _____ says don’t talk to me, or _____ says she doesn’t like me, not to mention the new language she is coming home with. I am not looking forward to when the real drama starts in middle school.
Having a daughter start her schooling and hearing how little things can hurt her has really made me more aware of bullying in general. I have been paying more attention for signs of bullying not only in the grade levels I teach but also on campus or on the bus ride home. It was just a few days ago that I intervened on the school bus because of a situation developing between students. Had I not been hearing about my daughter struggles, I may have done nothing thinking it is no big deal. But my daughter has helped me realize that events I observe among students often cause more hurt than I realized.