As many of you may have read on Friday, the St. Petersburg Times did an excellent article on the general subject of bullying during the early teenage years. Titled Walker Middle rape case represents every parent's nightmare, the story was triggered by a particularly shocking incident at a middle school near Tampa, but they covered a variety of issues and focused upon the tendency of students at that age to withhold information, even at their peril.
In today’s St. Petersburg Times, there is a powerful follow-up article, titled Middle school locker room: a lawless frontier, which narrows the focus to boys in their early teenage years. For any parent of boys in or approaching their teenage years, this is a worthwhile read.
Our own district has taken a number of steps to sensitize students to the problem of bullying, but it is obvious from these two articles that some things may be kept secret by some teens, and that others may not be sensitive to the fact that what some call “high jinks” may only be a short step from engaging in bullying.
On the theory that not every student embraces important messages from any school district, and that every parent wants to protect their child from possible harm rather than punish a future potential bully who might harm their child, you may want to understand all of these issues, and be a proactive parent in communicating with your own children.
