It’s lawsuits, not reputation, the administration is worried about.
Teachers, however, actually care about human development, and attempt the impossible job of steering students in the right direction.
The teachers at my school sometimes bullied the students. I wasn’t one of them, but I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been for those kids. They were targeted for their appearance and poor grades by kids and adults alike. Yeah, they were cringe kids whose moms dressed them and did their homework for them, but come on.
Anyway, bad (and abusive) teachers exist and it’s not just an apathetic admin team that causes this issue. It’s not always about liability or reputation, some adults are just awful to kids because their own lives suck and/or they get off on the power.
I’ve heard some stories about schools with zero tolerance. Bullying victims soon found out that you get equal punishment for defending themselves or for some serious violence. The logical response is to go full berserker mode.
“So, Kid A jumped Kid B in the hallway, called them a bigoted slur, then beat Kid B so badly he had to go to the hospital. Kid B tried to fight back, but was overwhelmed. Our solution is that kids are going to be suspended for an equal amount of time and suffer equal repercussions, because zero tolerance.”
Zero tolerance is the absence of humanity as a policy. It’s abhorrent.
Totally.
My mom would always ask, “Why didn’t you walk away?” And I would respond “I get suspended either way, at least this way everyone knows not to fuck with me.”
I am so glad I haven’t had to hit someone in a long time.
That, and have you ever tried to “walk away” when there are like five people chasing you with the intent of beating you up? Good luck with that.
Is being suspended even a punishment? I would have been psyched to be suspended, I hated going to school.
Zero tolerance is how you market abdication of responsibility to dipshit parents. “We have a zero tolerance policy” means “We do not value your children, especially the boys. We’re itching for a reason to throw them in the trash.”
It’s more about self preservation. While I won’t claim they give a shit about the children. This is ALL about them covering their own asses. By going “zero tolerance” it takes all judgement and decisions out of the system. The administrators are safe from any backlash or lawsuits.
Zero tolerance needs to be applied to administration too, so that they can see how absolutely unjust the policy is against victims of abuse. Spray brake fluid on the superintendent’s car and then accuse them of vandalism. Same thing. Set fire to their lawn, blame them for arson. Same thing. Maybe being part of the injustice will highlight their idiotic reasoning.
Such a dumb fucking policy made by lawyers who don’t react like normal people.
Got really harshly dogged in sophomore year by an asshole, one day in gym class he threw a basketball (iirc?)directly at my head. That day I gave him a death stare and we squared up, gym teacher came over and threw US both on the ground yelling like you do when dogs start fighting. A year later I was questioned by the school councilor whether I was safe enough to go to my honors classes at a neighboring high school (zero tolerance for bad behavior in this program). I nearly got denied my favorite class (equine science+veterinary science) over that shit. Don’t even remember the guy’s name, but he was a total loser. I’m still salty that I didn’t beat the shit out of him that day lol.
Back when I was in school, I was bullied so bad it resulted in multiple head injuries and even a broken arm.
My parents tried to complain to the school but got nowhere, so they went to the local newspaper. I was interviewed, so were other kids at my school. The story was pulled from the paper at the request of the school superintendent.
Years later after I graduated, I saw a documentary on Amazon about school bullying, and it featured the very same school!
As shit as social media is, I do think the aspects of it that allow stories like yours to go viral nowadays and bring eyes to a situation beyond the local community can be helpful.
My niece’s school also had an intense bullying situation, and several students posted on Tiktok about it. The videos went semi-viral, and the school got bombarded with phone calls and negative Google reviews (I didn’t even know schools HAD Google reviews until then lol). The regional news station got wind of it this way, and came sniffing around. Suddenly administrators were VERY concerned and attentive to the situation, when they couldn’t even be bothered half of the school year.
I actually think the victim’s family were able to settle something legally because a lawyer offered their services reduced cost or pro-bono, again by learnings about the situation from social media.
And then a school shooting happens and the reputation is more than tarnished
Anti-bullying policies at schools aren’t meant to protect victims. But they aren’t meant to protect perpetrators either.
They are instead meant to protect the school administration, notably from having to actually assign fault in bullying situations. They can simply say “zero tolerance,” punish all parties equally, and wash their hands of it.
