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As educators it seems that our chief responsibility would be to educate -- and it is -- but if you believe Maslow to be correct (and I do) then keeping our students safe, especially while they're in our care, must also be our primary responsibility if we expect learning to occur.
The information presented in this article is admittedly one sided. The school district did not give an official response about the incident or the actions being taken to prevent future occurrences. Regardless, this article is representative of a very real problem--violence in schools happens.
What types of violence have you witnessed or experienced in your school? To what do you attribute the cause of violence in schools? What can teachers and other school officials do to prevent violence and keep our kids safe?
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfEBrjaHUGg
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| Photo: KSPR |
Being picked on is something that Heavenly Chapman is familiar with.
"It's been going on my whole life with the rumors and everything. But since I started this year and stuff, this is like my worst year," said Chapman.
As a sixth grader at Carver Middle School, Chapman said she's been taunted and humiliated by other students.
"They say that I need Proactive just because of my pimples and everything and they pick on me how big I am," Chapman said softly. "It's just drama."
During one incident, she said she was forced to eat lunch with a coach after a cafeteria filled with kids chased her away. Students gave her a standing ovation once she left the room.
"It really hurt," said Chapman. "I've cried a lot."
At her mother's insistence, Chapman spoke to other students, teachers, and counselors to document and attempt to stop the bullying. But on the bus ride home two weeks ago, the "drama" turned violent at the hands of an eighth-grade girl.
"She hit me all over my face. She grabbed my hair and pulled my head," Chapman remembered. "I tried to get away, but she had my knees pinned down and my arms pinned down. She punched me and kept hitting my face and I felt her knuckle hit my nose. I checked and blood was all over my face. I just felt like jell-o when she was hurting me."
Another student on the bus stopped the fight.
"Three or four blocks away from our house, this happened. And it took a block and a half before the school bus driver even stopped the bus to do anything," said Chapman's mother, U'Geannia Evans. "The bus driver did not do anything. It was another student that pulled this child off of my daughter."
Evans said her daughter ran to her, bloody, scared, and crying.
"It scared me, I was shaking," explained Evans. "As a parent, you entrust the school to protect your child. So how can you send your child to school wondering whether or not you are going to get a phone call that somebody attacked your child and your child is dead? Or your child has been physically hurt and we've got to send them to the hospital? It's wrong. It's so wrong."
Evans said 45 minutes after the attack she went to the school. She said people in the office had no idea about the incident.
"I was the one who told them about it. No one radioed it in or anything," said Evans. "This whole experience has made me frustrated and mad."
Evans took her daughter to the emergency room where doctors confirmed she had a broken nose. Tuesday, the girl underwent surgery.
"My nose is still sore and it bleeds sometimes," Chapman detailed.
The physical wounds are healing. Emotional scars remain.
"Consider her self-esteem, being called these names that this child has called my daughter. That will never go away. That's a deep scar. This is has emotionally affected my daughter and my family," said Evans, who has three other students in the school system.
Since the fight, Chapman said she's been threatened online. According to her mother, Springfield Public Schools has done nothing to help resolve the situation.
"It just seems like they are just shoving it under the rug. And I'm not going to let that happen. I refuse to let that happen. They need to stand up. They need to practice what they preach (about bullying) instead of telling us what we want to hear, just to put our kids in school," Evans said passionately. "They demand us to be good parents and send our kids to school, but how do you want to do that if something like this has already happened?"
Evans hasn't been back to school since the attack.
"I am terrified to go back to school," said Chapman. "What if the older girls attack me again and focus on me? I don't want to go back."
Evans is considering pulling her daughter out of Carver Middle School to keep her safe.
"Children are sitting there bullying, harassing, pushing them around and they get a simple slap on the hand or are allowed back on the school bus when a child has been violently attacked and had to have surgery," said Evans. "I just hope and pray that I can keep my children safe and let them feel safe to go to school."
After conversations with the assistant principle and transportation officials, a bus seating chart was proposed. However, two days after the conversations, that chart wasn't made. Evans said she is concerned about another daughter, who also attends Carver, and has to ride the same bus as the bully.
"Kids shouldn't have to put up with this," said Chapman tearfully. "With other kids fighting and punching at this age."
The family has met with a lawyer about the incident.
KSPR reached out to the Springfield Public School District for comment. The spokesperson citing a schedule conflict refused to answer our questions.
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