School bullying behaviors are not of the “normal standard”
Carnamah District High School Principal, Rod Baker has taken a step to writing letters to parents concerning the fears of students of going to school just to avoid bullies and to gather support in the move to control the bullying behaviors among student.
Mr Baker felt that a strong action is needed following a court's hearing of a 15 year-old boy, who allegedly carried a loaded gun to an Esperance school, because he couldn't stand the bullies.
In his letter to parents, he stated that the school had suffered bullying in varying forms, to the extent that we have students who don't want to come to school.
The bullying behavior involved verbal abuse and threats of violence towards staff and significant damage to school property and buildings.
The bad behavior of secondary students, according to Mr Baker was not typical of the normal standard.
His letter read, It is having an impact on the opportunities for our students to be successful; it is having an impact on how some students feel about school and about themselves, and it is having an impact on the ability of my staff to work effectively.
He also wrote that strong action is needed to ensure that the learning programs are not affected, which include more out-of-school suspensions with applied sanctions.
The support of parents is greatly looked forward to by the school as the issue may affect their own children.
Rob Fry, WA Council of State School Organizations said it was time for parents to hold responsibility for their children's behavior in the classroom.
He said bullying behavior is a grave concern and it is a very serious matter.
If a child's behavior has slipped to such a bad standard, the principal should be telling the parents to come along and sit next to their child until they can behave, said Mr Fry.
The government has invested in an important cyber-bullying study and schools are playing a vital role in reducing bullying behavior, according to Education Minister, Liz Constable.