Elementary School Sends Kids Home With Victim-Blaming Flyer On Bullying
Lincoln Public Schools (Nebraska) is investigating the origins of a anachronistic flyer sent home with Zeman Elementary fifth graders last week. Intended for parents, the flyer basically rests the problem of bullying on the shoulders of victims and included these heinous "rules":
- Rule #7: Do not tell on bullies. The number one reason bullies hate their victims, is because the victims tell on them. Telling makes the bully want to retaliate. Tell an adult only when a real injury or crime (theft of something valuable) has occurred. Would we keep our friends if we tattled on them?
- Rule #8: Don't be a sore loser.
- Rule #9: Learn to laugh at yourself and not get "hooked" by put-downs. Make a joke out of it or agree with the put-down. For example: "If you think I'm ugly, you should see my sister!"
Parents understandably flooded Zeman's Facebook page complaining about the "rules" that seem more appropriate for Putin's Russia. The deluge of outrage prompted an official response on Facebook from the school, which contained a comment from Principal Donna Williams:
A flyer that contained inaccurate information regarding how to handle bullying situations was sent home with Zeman Elementary School fifth-graders.
Our educators at Zeman Elementary School work hard to provide accurate and appropriate lessons and education for our students in how to handle bullying situations. The flyer was sent home with good intentions, unfortunately, it contained advice that did not accurately reflect LPS best practices regarding response to bullying incidents.
The school's Facebook post also revised the flyer to include advice for bullying victims more appropriate for this century.
Zeman's choice to extend a Facebook olive branch to parents upset by the school's idiocy didn't work for some, however. "Ok so parents got a letter," writes one commenter. "Good start, but not the most important aspect of this! My question is: What have the students who were given bad information been told? Have they all been instructed that this was bad information and been given good information? Or is that being left to the parents?"
For its part, Lincoln Public Schools (which oversees Zeman Elementary) insists the flyer was not approved by the district and has apologized for its disbursement. "We apologize for any problems or confusion this has caused for students and families," reads a statement from the district. "We have added a link to our webpage where you will find 'The Facts About Bullying,' which contains our best advice for parents."
"We use a lot of different resources, we pull materials form a lot of different places that are research based and published," said Counselors Coordinator for LPS, Brenda Leggiadro. "The pamphlet that went out has some strategies that might be used in some situations. I think it's safe to say that all of those strategies are not part of our program."
Fortunately, other LPS staff have confirmed that a visit will be made to Zeman's fifth grade class to explain the situation and provide the district-approved methods for dealing with bullying.