Gay Geiser-Sandoval
o7 I wrote the following column about bullies before there was more
carnage on a high school campus close to homef7 ,o7 in San Diego
County's city of Santee. It could just have easily been here. News
reports said a 15-year-old f7 who o7 was constantly picked on and
called f7 a o7 freak, dork and nerd, allegedly decided to take a gun to
campus and shoot people. On Monday, that is what he did. I'm sure there
was a zerof7 -o7 tolerance policy against weapons at that school, and
it didn't stop the bullets from piercing students and staff. It's time to
stop thinking that a law or policy will save our kids from harm. The time
to stop bullying is in elementary school, so that a frustrated student
won't decide he has had enough bullying and seek a permanent solution for
his tormentors.f7
I don't like bullies.
Bullies have been around since before I have. When I tell people that
I write a column about educational issues, many of them relate to me the
terrible time they had in school under the reign of terror of a bully.
Harry Potter even has to clash with a bully and his goons at Hogwarts
School.
Last year, after a student ended up in the hospital at the hands of a
bully and the student witnesses took a vow of silence, parents had had
enough. They wanted the terror to end. After a few meetings, the district
decided to form a Bully Committee, made up of parents, teachers and
administrators from throughout the district. They even got information
from New Zealand on the issue.
So, on Feb. 27, the board held its first reading to include a ban on
"bullying" in its zero-tolerance policy.
Ironically, it was just days after the American Bar Assn. called for
the end of zero-tolerance policies across the country. The association is
not in favor of weapons, drugs or alcohol at school. The association is
also not in favor of a blanket policy that does not take into account any
of the circumstances surrounding the incident or the background of the
individual.
We are the first district, apparently, to consider adding
"intimidation" into its zero-tolerance policy. So, maybe we will be the
first district to be in a lawsuit about the legality of it. The policy
will now include language that states, "The district will not tolerate
any gestures, comments, threats or actions, either written, verbal or
physical, which cause or threaten to cause or are likely to cause bodily
harm, personal degradation or disgrace."
The punishments can include expulsion, suspension or transfer
