Hale Middle School In Los Angeles Creates 'Stand Tall Day' Against Bullies

California's largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, is making a statement it simply won't tolerate bullying as a mere rite of passage. They see it as serious stuff.

Students at Hale Middle School participated in "Stand Tall Day," a program to combat bullying, the Los Angeles Times reports. Hale is one of the first schools in the district to devote an entire day to the topic, and officials are hoping it might be used as a model.

The Tuesday workshops included anti-bullying presentations, discussions and self-defense sessions. Kids were even encouraged to tell on their peers for picking on others. Hale Principal Neal Siegel said one of the goals was to convey the severity of bullying.

"We're trying to be clear in our expectations and are not big on excuses like 'Kids will be kids,'" Siegel said. "If you're making someone unhappy, you're bullying."

The efforts at Hale are part of a larger nationwide effort against bullying. The issue has gained traction with more and more reports of students taking drastic measures due to the emotional toll bullying can have.

Last fall, the Department of Education issued guidelines regarding how schools should respond to intolerance and even said schools could lose funding for ignoring bullying of gay and other students, Bloomberg reported.

Comments

[CptFreakout]

06:04 PM on 02/15/2011

I found a savage beating work's wonders on punks ! no one bullied me or anyone near me after the first couple of Yobs got it .

[GlennWatson]

08:56 AM on 02/13/2011

Kids should stop bullying = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should eat more vegetables = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should avoid sex = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should be patriotic = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should play fewer video games = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should get more sleep = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.

My point is I am a teacher of history. That is what I do. Maybe, just maybe the parents should teacher their kids not to beat people up. But if parents want teachrs to cover the list above and whatever else they might come up with don't be surprised when their kid's knowledge of history takes a bask seat.

[DevonTexas]

08:01 PM on 02/12/2011

I sure hope this works! Middle school is difficult enough for kids and bullying only adds to the struggle.

[Roy Robson]

01:38 PM on 02/12/2011

I remember when my son was in high school a kid kept picking on him... I always taught him don't start anything but you don't have to take it either.... this kid started one day and my son tried to lock himself in a storage room, the kid kicked the door in... When the teacher arrived my son had beat the crap out of him... My son got 3 days suspension, the other kid got 5, went to pick my son up at police station found out what happened, took him to video store got him 3 games and 5 movies to watch.. got home had messages from 5 teachers saying my son had done the right thing don't punish him...

[GlennWatson]

08:56 PM on 02/12/2011

It happens all the time.

[GlennWatson]

09:18 AM on 02/12/2011

Which part of world history or math should I leave out so that I have time to teacher about bullying?

Will the bullying curriculum be on the graduation exam?

Will my pay be connected to how much bullying goes on?

[DevonTexas]

08:06 PM on 02/12/2011

The problem of bullying, as proven by the recent spate of suicides, shows how important that subject is in the educational milleu. If bullying goes unchecked, very little education can take place. So, yes, it's important enough to take a day to commit to eliminating it. And, who knows, perhaps it will show up on an exam. At least there's a greater liklihood a couple of the kids taking the exam are there because they were protected from bullying. They could have been casulties of the bullying system.

[GlennWatson]

08:55 PM on 02/12/2011

Everything is important to someone.

Kids should eat more vegetables = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should avoid sex = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should be patriotic = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should play fewer video games = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.
Kids should get more sleep = teachers should spend a day teaching about it.

My point is I am a teacher of history. That is what I do. Maybe, just maybe the parents should teacher their kids not to beat people up. But if parents want teachrs to cover the list above and whatever else they might come up with don't be surprised when their kid's knowledge of history takes a bask seat.

I only have each kid for an hour a day.

So again I ask what do I take off the list of topics I now cover to make room for this new thing?

[ringo3khan]

06:30 AM on 02/12/2011

O.k., well, we don't know much but we do know that's not a picture from a school in L.A.'s public school system.

[snesich]

05:29 PM on 02/11/2011

Kudos to Hale Middle School, their Principal Neal Siegel and the Los Angeles Unified School District for doing this.

Bullying IS a very serious problem. It keeps kids from learning and from wanting to attend school. It damages people, sometimes well into adulthood.

I always despised those teachers, parents and administrators who "looked the other way" and rationalized bullying as "kids will be kids." That's BS. It angered me beyond words that no adults connected with our schools would stop this sick, sociopathic, predatory behavior on the part of bullies.

Good for you, Los Angeles Unified! May you be a model for ALL schools, everywhere!

[Ioan Lightoller]

04:32 PM on 02/13/2011

Fanned and faved. Exactly. It IS a serious problem, one that just now is getting the attention it needs. Maybe we should consider extending the school year to accomodate this...three months a year is no longer necessary as most of us no longer live on farms, necessitating children to help work the fields.

[eric14]

04:21 PM on 02/11/2011

Empower students by have them participate fully in judicial processes for trial of bullies publicly. Yes. It's tough on bullies. You want to stop it, confronting it is not enough. There must be commensurate punishment.

[SinfullySublime]

05:31 PM on 02/11/2011

x200, eric.

[ajsgmajc]

03:09 PM on 02/11/2011

This sounds like a good place to start, but self-defense sessions?? And when one of these students try self defense at school, I can see them suspended or worse as part of the school's Zero Tolerance Policy. It's happened before....

[sonjasmom]

04:35 PM on 02/11/2011

That's my worry. My child recently used her tai kwon do skills (blocking, mostly) to defend herself against a bigger and older male bully. I can't bring myself to tell her not to do that, but I worry about her getting suspended for "fighting" when she's just defending herself in the absence of adequate adult supervision.

[ringo3khan]

06:29 AM on 02/12/2011

Yea, it's a problem; in many of the school districts in Texas, those who defend themselves are charged with assault. The "victims" are supposed to just take the beating until, hopefully, some one steps in.

[kitvancleave]

09:39 AM on 02/12/2011

Part of the problem may have been that Tae Kwon Do is a SPORT, not a self-defense system or "martial ART." People will do what they are trained to do when they are attacked in a criminal episode. In "sport karate" or TKD, he/she who hits or kicks first gains the competitive point advantage to win in the match. I don't want to teach people to hit or kick someone else first; as an ex-cop I have arrested people for assault for doing that. Traditional martial ARTS do not emphasize winning, but defending first and then using what is necessary to prevent the assault.

Also, in the "fighting" law in Texas, if both have bruises, both are arrested, or disciplined by the schools. This also applies to domestic violence cases.

[Nicole Dixson]

01:54 PM on 02/11/2011

Adults-parents not doing their job of teaching their children proper behavior and teachers/administrators turning a blind eye to bullying while providing only lip service to the issue are the reason that bullying still exists and will continue to exist. This program will go the way of all other anti-bullying programs-Nowhere.

[snesich]

05:33 PM on 02/11/2011

I respectfully disagree. Everyone---students, teachers, parents and administrators---have to be involved with a program like this.

And they DO have results. It takes time to change patterns of behavior, but it can and has been done. This program, and others like it, WILL go somewhere. Other programs like this have achieved positive results. No reason to be skeptical about this one.

[t mout]

07:54 AM on 02/11/2011

Would love to have seen that. Imagine a whole seven hours of 'put on a show for the public' bullying classes? No teaching that day.

Ditto. Will there be classes for teachers being bullied by administrators? Here's a reality show idea. Woman tearing into another woman - not her skin but her emotions, daily. Just hook a camera to a principal (many to select from) for a day - don't worry, no misbehaving children will be harmed in the filming - only adults take the punishment.

http://stores.lulu.com/tigresstracker

[Ariel Bonzai]

12:24 AM on 02/11/2011

Any advice on defending ourselves from bully administrators and abusive officials running LAUSD into the ground and intentionally burning teachers out?

[Jdaddy1951]

06:59 AM on 02/11/2011

Yes. Quit trying to co-opt the term, "bullying," and call it a labor issue. And sincere good wishes on trying to help teachers combat burnout. On the other hand, in this economy, anyone who has a job should be grateful for it.

[Ariel Bonzai]

03:03 PM on 02/12/2011

no one is co opting anything. co to www.NAPTA.org or read Breaking the Silence by Blase and Blase. You have no idea what teachers go through.
Check out www.Perdaily.com
and ask yourself if you're a bully.

[Endersdragon]

11:38 AM on 02/11/2011

Wasn't the LA teachers union sued by the ACLU... just saying after that you really don't have much of a leg to stand on.

[alexsmth114]

11:30 PM on 02/10/2011

A really nice program introduced by school, hope everything goes out well for the school!!..

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