LETTER TO CBC RADIO'S HERE AND NOW
RE: THE CULTURE OF SILENCE INTERVIEW
Culture of silence?
To whom would students report what they see or fear?
Non-responsive teachers?
Non-responsive principals?
Non-responsive superintendents?
And where a school is fortunate enough to have a responsible and responsive principal, just what is he or she to do?
Contact non-responsive parents?
It is non-responsive, unfit parents, after all, who send their troubled thugs to school in the first place.
When we did something to try breaking this cycle before with zero tolerance for violence, we had all the irresponsible parents campaigning to kill the policy because their little dears were constantly being punished (which of course means their little dears were constantly offending).
It wasn't the best policy, but it is gone. There is nothing now.
What we badly need is for identified disturbed students to be transferred to special facilities, but this is unlikely to happen with any regularity for exactly the same reason that zero tolerance was eliminated. My little dear can't be picked out, even if he is threatening people all the time.
Anyone familiar with major school boards knows perfectly well that the senior officials are well aware of the poor performance of many principals. They just do nothing about it. Just as nothing is done to poor teachers, of which there are many.
Think about the small fortune the school board spends on something like anti-bullying programs. Bullying is just a lower grade form of violence. It goes on all the time, despite the silly programs. Why?
Because school staff doesn't take responsibility often for what kids are doing. They are either indifferent - "That's not my job!" - or feel powerless because the entire system doesn't know what to do. Bullying can only happen where the adults in charge aren't behaving responsibly.
If this is the case for ordinary bullying, how much more so for sexual assault and other violence? That is the situation, and we need major changes.
But we won't get the needed changes. The politics of public education won't allow it. So after a flurry of speeches and token acts, we will be exactly where we are again.
Remember, one of the pathetic Board representatives started presentation of the report by talking about what a great job they were doing in most areas. How inappropriate and butt-covering.
Remember, too, this is a school board that cannot even balance its budget.
