Classroom Politics

Story about classroom politics:

Story of Ryan Halligan


In December 2002, the bullying problem surfaced again to a significant level. There was an evening that month when he just had a melt down … a very tearful session at the kitchen table. We thought 7th grade was going fine but discovered he was bottling up a lot of bad experiences during the first few months. Again, it was the same kid and his friends that bullied him on and off since the 5th grade. They were tormenting him again and he said he hated going to school, that he never wanted to go back there. He asked that night if we could move or home school him.
I was torn between wanting to be his bodyguard all day and feeling he needed to (again) learn how to manage the situation as a part of growing up. We sat at the kitchen table discussing our options that evening. We explained that moving in the middle of the winter was not a good time and home schooling was not an option because Mom worked part-time. I said, “That’s it Ryan. I had enough. Let’s take it to the principal and have him put a stop to it once and for all.” To that, Ryan exclaimed, “No dad, please don’t do that. They will only make it worse. I see it happen all the time.” Instead Ryan asked that we help him learn how to fight so he can “beat the heck” out of this kid if he or his 8th grade friends tried to jump Ryan.

Facts about classroom politics
The Perceived Threat Syndrome

-People who have a history of being bullied react as if they have been threatened when the other person dealing with them didn’t do anything to cause that reaction.

-For example, someone might be making a suggestion to this person and the person sees the suggestion as a threat to them, instead of the intended suggestion.

thanks to:
http://bullyinglte.wordpress.com/

-Cassmain Low-