I promptly sat down and wrote him a nice long letter detailing some of the things Cody has had to put up with on the bus. I also sent a copy to Mr. Carson--who is over the busses, and Mr. Bonner--who is over the bus drivers. I told Cody to give those copies to his bus driver to deliver. This must have shook the driver up, because the next day when Cody was slapped on the bus, he punched the guy back and the driver didn't say anything to him. He doesn't like Cody, so tends to turn a blind eye to what goes on to him.
Anyway, I decided to expand the letter a bit and send it to the editor of the local newspaper. Not to sound braggadocious, but I was rather pleased with how it turned out. I don't know if it will get published or not, but here is the letter in its entirety:
Bullied to the Breaking Point
April 22, 2006
One day last week, I heard on the radio that the authorities had narrowly averted another school shooting. I forget where it was this time.
I wonder sometimes, could such a thing happen in Grenada?
It got me thinking. What is the one thing the shooters at Columbine High, Paducah, KY., Pearl, MS., Jonesboro AR., etc. —have in common? Poor home life? Perhaps. Uninvolved parents? Maybe. But the one thing they all definitely had in common is that those shooters had been bullied incessantly at school. Every day, they had been teased and tormented, mocked and made fun of. Punched. Slapped. Ridiculed. Bullied to the breaking point.
The same kind of thing goes on in Grenada schools—both public and private. Bullying.
I am very concerned about the amount of bullying that is going on, particularly on the school buses. My son rides the bus. He has to. I have no other way to get him to school.
He hates it.
He comes home in tears nearly every day because of the treatment he receives at the hands of bullies on the bus. He shouldn’t have to. He shouldn’t have to put up with this tormenting. He should not feel like he has to fight for his life just to get to and from school. Yet he does.
In ONE WEEK’S time he was hit, slapped, punched--by more than one person, spat on, ridiculed, called names, had his homework thrown out the window (which, according to his teacher, is no excuse for not having it, and yes, he did get a 0 for that day), had someone attempt to look down his pants, had his fingers repeatedly smashed, and had to listen to insults about his mother. (That would be me.)
In the past, he has also been cursed at, threatened, had his personal property stolen from him and/or thrown out the window, had his nose bloodied—multiple times, had his lip split, had gum stuck in his hair, had things thrown at him, had his school ID torn up (I had to pay $5.00 to get him a new one), had someone try to take his pants down, and had someone attempt to strangle him with his ID lanyard.
He has had high school boys hold him down so the little kids could take turns hitting him.
This has got to stop.
No one should have to put up with this kind of bullying. My belief is that those who stand by and allow such behavior to continue are just as guilty as the bullies themselves. Perhaps school authorities have been unaware of the situation, though I doubt it, but they can no longer claim ignorance. We need to take action. We need to have cameras on the busses all the time, not just at random intervals. We need to take disciplinary action against those who bully and teach smaller children to bully. We need to have bus marshals on the busses for each and every bus run. We need to do whatever it takes to stop this bullying, NOW.
Before Grenada, Mississippi is added to the list.
April 22, 2006
One day last week, I heard on the radio that the authorities had narrowly averted another school shooting. I forget where it was this time.
I wonder sometimes, could such a thing happen in Grenada?
It got me thinking. What is the one thing the shooters at Columbine High, Paducah, KY., Pearl, MS., Jonesboro AR., etc. —have in common? Poor home life? Perhaps. Uninvolved parents? Maybe. But the one thing they all definitely had in common is that those shooters had been bullied incessantly at school. Every day, they had been teased and tormented, mocked and made fun of. Punched. Slapped. Ridiculed. Bullied to the breaking point.
The same kind of thing goes on in Grenada schools—both public and private. Bullying.
I am very concerned about the amount of bullying that is going on, particularly on the school buses. My son rides the bus. He has to. I have no other way to get him to school.
He hates it.
He comes home in tears nearly every day because of the treatment he receives at the hands of bullies on the bus. He shouldn’t have to. He shouldn’t have to put up with this tormenting. He should not feel like he has to fight for his life just to get to and from school. Yet he does.
In ONE WEEK’S time he was hit, slapped, punched--by more than one person, spat on, ridiculed, called names, had his homework thrown out the window (which, according to his teacher, is no excuse for not having it, and yes, he did get a 0 for that day), had someone attempt to look down his pants, had his fingers repeatedly smashed, and had to listen to insults about his mother. (That would be me.)
In the past, he has also been cursed at, threatened, had his personal property stolen from him and/or thrown out the window, had his nose bloodied—multiple times, had his lip split, had gum stuck in his hair, had things thrown at him, had his school ID torn up (I had to pay $5.00 to get him a new one), had someone try to take his pants down, and had someone attempt to strangle him with his ID lanyard.
He has had high school boys hold him down so the little kids could take turns hitting him.
This has got to stop.
No one should have to put up with this kind of bullying. My belief is that those who stand by and allow such behavior to continue are just as guilty as the bullies themselves. Perhaps school authorities have been unaware of the situation, though I doubt it, but they can no longer claim ignorance. We need to take action. We need to have cameras on the busses all the time, not just at random intervals. We need to take disciplinary action against those who bully and teach smaller children to bully. We need to have bus marshals on the busses for each and every bus run. We need to do whatever it takes to stop this bullying, NOW.
Before Grenada, Mississippi is added to the list.
....................................................
Later...
While perusing the newspaper website to find the editor's address, I ran across a wonderful bit of news. It has us all doing the happy dance here in my house. I know you're anxious to know what this information is that is causing us all to celebrate. Well, I'll tell you.
*Strains of the Hallelujah corus waft through the background.*
DR. WHITE IS LEAVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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