Hot Topic: Bullying

We discussed a great deal of "Hot Topics" in education in this course, such as teen pregnancy, drug use, obesity, poverty, and violence. It is clear that adolescents are up against a lot of potential pitfalls during these formative years of their lives. One issue that has been gathering a great deal of media attention, and one that has captured my attention, is bullying. We discussed this in class on Thursday, and my heart just went out to these students who are made fun of and intimidated, often as teachers remain totally unaware. 


Metro Nashville schools have recently implemented a new anti-bullying policy, so teachers will need to become better educated about what to keep an eye out for and how to respond. 


In New York State last month, Governor Cuomo signed a law protecting students from Cyberbullying -- "Whether through messaging, emails or social networking sites, it’s difficult for victims to escape the 24/7 exposure to threats, bullying or discrimination." 


http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/07092012cyberbullying


"Research has revealed a link between cyberbullying and low self‐esteem, family problems, academic problems, school violence, and delinquent behavior, as well as long-term consequences that include increased depression, substance use, aggressive impulses, and school truancy. Recent well-publicized cases involving cyberbullying – sometimes combined with other forms of bullying – have led to suicide. If left unattended, bullying can rapidly escalate into even more serious violence and abuse." 


This more specific realm of bullying, cyberbullying, can be particularly insidious, because teachers often do not know what happens outside of school. If anything going on online or via phones does come to their attention, however, they will need to be prepared to address the problems. 


Overall, I am glad that more measures are being taken to ensure peace of mind for students who do not deserve to be torn down and attacked, either in person or on the internet. 

Ruby Payne and the "Culture of Poverty"

This week we read an article titled "Miseducating Teachers about the Poor: A Critical Analysis of Ruby Payne's Claims about Poverty." It was one of the most enlightening things we've read in class so far, and I very much enjoyed the authors' deconstructions of Payne's oversimplified, stereotyping views of class and race. I also got a lot out of our in-class discussion of the topic.

It quickly became clear that basically all of Payne's claims were unsubstantiated -- which would be fine, if she were not a major force in teacher education. Her highly popular professional development workshops fill teachers' minds with misinformation about the poor, which I found rather offensive. In general, it was helpful to debunk each of the myths Payne created about poor people -- i.e., that they eat out of garbage cans, are loud, are unable to think of the future, are messy, use improper language, are violent, use "gray tape," etc. If I am assuming that ALL children who come from low-income are a certain way, and I treat them a certain way because of my assumptions, then I am doing them a grave disservice. It was amazing to me that Payne's "research" was inaccurate, made-up, or simply nonexistent, and yet her ideas have shaped policy to an alarming degree.