blackraincloud:

aegipanomnicorn:

schizotypal-hippy-fiend:

cordolia:

theysbian:

Unpopular opinion that shouldn’t be unpopular: anti-bullying programs in school that don’t address the root causes of bullying – which are almost invariably larger forms of bigotry and oppression like racism, ableism and homophobia – are completely useless and ultimately futile.

kids get bullied, frequently, because they’re “weird”. but it just so happens that the traits society calls “weird” are overwhelmingly related to poverty, minority religion or ethnicity, neurodivergence, non-straight sexuality, and gender non conformance. 

funny, that.

“Maybe you should stop being ‘weird’ and start acting in a way that makes other kids like you”

In my Not-So-Humble-Opinion, the reason teachers, principals, parents, and their ilk turn a blind eye to bullying, and/or play lip service to tolerance, is because

They agree with the bullies that their victims deserve it.

It’s as if they recruited the schoolyard bully to be their child soldier, enforcing the power structure of the privileged status quo while keeping their own hands clean.

This is absolutely true. But if you work in a school and can afford to risk constant daily harassment by parents and admins, report that shit for what it is.

When you SWIFTLY AND IMMEDIATELY write up the kids for this behavior, write EXACTLY what it is they were doing: race/religion/disability/gender DISCRIMINATION based harassment.

Add “bullying” if that’s your school district’s trigger word that means the administration MUST do something about the behavior detailed in your write-up…

But ALWAYS write down that it was harassment/intimidation/assault targeting a student’s [oppressed identity] status.

Because then you create a paper trail of the school’s failure to create a safe learning environment free from discriminatory harassment.

Giving the abused students and their families copies of documents with words like “Discrimination” and “harassment” and “unsafe environment” gives them MUCH better ammunition against the school.

Expect retaliation. Keep kids’ safety your primary goal. But if your school and district aren’t COMPLETELY shit, you’ll see some results.

Or you’ll get fired. Or you might have to quit because the district IS top-to-bottom shit and you are unable to make life safer for you OR the students.

In which case, make copies of all your records and leave them EVERYWHERE from the school board & superintendent to the bullied kids and their parents.

Then file an unsafe workplace environment complaint and quit.