We’ve all heard stories of kids bullying other kids. We hear of the mental anguish it causes the child being bullied, sometimes to the point they commit suicide. Schools across the country have put zero tolerance for bullying policies in place to combat the problem, or at least try to control it. But what happens when the bullying is coming from a teacher to a student? Shouldn’t there be even less tolerance for that? I’ve looked through some anti-bullying policies and have found that no where do they say teachers are exempt from the policy. In fact, I have seen things that state using power, which to me, implies the teacher or other authority at the school. So why haven’t we heard more about bullying from teachers to students? Because the schools don’t want that kind of thing getting out. Well, too bad because it’s about to come out.
My family is dealing with this right now. My oldest nephew has been bullied all year long by his math teacher. He just turned 14 and is in 8th grade. He loves, or did, math and loves science. He has been in honors math since elementary school and was placed in honors everything in junior high. His math teacher has been causing him problems all year. She singles him out in class and nit picks every little thing about him, in front of his fellow classmates. This has happened to the point where other kids in his class have approached him and stated something down the lines of “She must really hate you.” My nephew is a type 1 diabetic and has, what is called, a 504 plan in place at the school. Basically what it does is allow him exceptions so he can take care of his blood glucose levels as needed, as well as other exceptions. His math teacher has not followed the 504 plan, which by the way is a legal document, which also falls under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She has not followed this plan multiple times and has even lied about it, which my sister has proof of. My nephew wants to be an engineer and was planning on taking honors geometry so he could take honors chemistry in high school. Because this teacher refuses to recommend him for honors geometry, he can’t take honors chemistry. She recommended it for one of the kids in his class who was getting the same grade he was. She claims she never gets his homework, which is done online, even though we all watch him do it and submit it. So, he gets zeros for homework. She also grades the homework and will mark him down excessively for minor things, like not showing work. He recently got marked down 2 points on something for not showing all the work. She also had made him take his lunch hour to make up tests or homework he had missed due to his diabetes. He would come home with most of his lunch uneaten because he didn’t have time to eat it. These are just a few of the issues my nephew and family have been dealing with. It has caused my nephew to lose his self confidence. He plays baseball and football and excels at both. This year, watching him play baseball, he is not the same. He says he sucks all the time, no matter how good he does. This teacher has not just bullied my nephew, she has mentally abused him. My family has met with the school on multiple occasions to get this fixed, to no avail. In fact, it makes the situation worse. Now, he is seeing a therapist and she’s now getting involved and talking to the school.
This brings me to the point of, why isn’t the school providing a safe place for the students? Why are they not advicating for the student’s well being, both physically all and mentally? This is a school, not a fucking prison!! These are kids who are there to learn, not be bullied and abused by the very people who are supposed to be advocates against bullying and abuse. Teachers are supposed to report cases of abuse to authorities and it’s taken care of. But no one wants to help a child who is being abused and bullied by their teacher. This is the most absurd, fucked up thing in the world. Teachers are supposed to help kids learn and grown, not push them down and steal their innocense and self worth. Why are these people allowed near our kids?! Why are the schools not being held accountable for these teachers and doing something about these issues?
The school district my nephew is in, is also the one my sister and I went through. It’s also a district that is coming under fire from students speaking out at the high school level about the demands and pressures the teachers at the high school level are placing on students. The mental anguish, stress, and anxiety being placed on these kids isn’t just at the high school level, it’s in the junior high now too. This district is about to have more than their hands full once things with my nephew’s case get rolling too. Maybe they should end teacher tenure so they have a way to let go of the bullies and not use the excuse they can’t. Abuse and bullying should not be tolerated at any level by anyone within a school setting, period. Teachers should not be an exception to that rule!