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Palo Alto parents and educators will have a chance to learn more about the issue of bullying in middle schools at a free PTA Council presentation tonight (Tuesday, April 7) at JLS Middle School.

The 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. program is free and open to the community.

The presentation is part of the PTA Council’s on-going community series, “Breaking the Cycle of Bullying.”

The detailed announcement of the event follows:

by Carrie Manley, Palo Alto PTA Council parent-education co-chair.

A large majority of middle school students in Palo Alto say they have never been cyber-bullied, but 15 percent of those surveyed say they have been electronically bullied at least once in the past year via text messages, e-mails and/or social networks.

About one in every 100 students surveyed said that they have been electronically bullied once a week or more.

The Palo Alto Drug and Alcohol Community Collaborative surveyed students on bullying issues at Terman, Jordan and JLS middle schools. For full summary results from each school go to www.padacc.org.

Of students surveyed at the three middle schools, an average of about 9 percent said they have been verbally bullied at least once a week or more over the past 12 months.

In response to these findings, the PTA Council tonight (April 7) will present another installment of its on-going free community series, “Breaking The Bullying Cycle.” This week’s program will focus on middle school bullying issues, including so-called “social cruelty” and cyber-bullying.

The program’s speaker, Gloria Moscowitz-Sweet, from the nonprofit “Parent’s Place,” will present the latest research on bullying in middle schools, an issue that research shows, at some point, impacts most every student, either as a victim, a bystander or a bully.

Moscowitz-Sweet will discuss how bullying, either on-line or face-to-face, is fundamentally different from typical disagreements between siblings or peers.

She will also share how bullying can have a potentially lasting impact on the bully, the bullied and the bystander, as well as the ways that parents and teachers can help to create inclusive environments for all students.

“Research shows that for any student to learn and thrive, he or she needs to feel safe,” said PTA Council Parent Education co-chair Wendy Kandasamy. “We should not ‘normalize’ the idea of that it’s ever OK for one child to be cruel to another child, especially when technology allows for the harassment to follow a student home 24/7,” Kandasamy.said.

“Our teachers and counselors make incredible efforts in this area and as adults, we all need to partner together to make sure we are all doing all we can to our school community safe for every child. It all starts by listening to our students’ experiences and perceptions, and for that we our thanks to the Community Collaborative,” she said.

The “Middle School: Breaking the Cycle of Bullying” program is from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the JLS Cafetorium, 480 East Meadow Road, Palo Alto. Spanish translation and free child care will be available.

PTA talks on bullying issues at elementary schools are also scheduled in the coming weeks at El Carmelo, Duveneck and Juana Briones elementary schools.

For more information e-mail info@paloaltopta.org or call Carrie Manley at 650-269-6656.

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8 Comments

  1. Missy Jenkins was paralyzed in the school shooting in Paducah, Ky. in 1997. Michael Carneal was the shooter and left three innocent girls dead. Missy just came out with her book at missyjenkins.com called “I Choose to be Happy: A School Shooting Survivor’s Triumph Over Tragedy.” It addresses bullying, of which Carneal was a daily victim. The book has been endorsed by the Ky. Dept of Education, School Library Journal and countless teachers who are using the book in their classrooms today to change the cultures of their schools. That’s where it has to happen – in the school culture. That’s what Missy’s book does to kids, and with tremendous success.

  2. Unfortunately, I think bullying and cyber-bullying occur at a much younger age than middle school. among the girls that i know in the los altos area there are more than a handful of young 1st/2nd/3rd grades that will do and say things which are bullying. such as you can’t play with us, you can’t sit here, there’s no room for you, why did you come you weren’t invited. i wish the school administrators would realize that it starts at a younger age. it also adds fuel to the fire when you have parents who are also very much involved in the exclusion process and spread rumors and want to get involved and micromanage these topics and issues at the kid level. people tell me it’s because we live in the palo alto/los altos area that you will find parents getting over involved.

  3. Parents of girls – you don’t have to put up with this. Send your daughter to Girls’ MIddle School. Expensive I know but by the time she graduates, she will have her own personality and ways to cope well in hand and can handle a lot of the curves that get thrown at her. The other drawback is PAUSD does not make it easy to transfer back in but it is so worth it.

  4. Michele, I agree, our experiences with private school were totally different from public school, even PAUSD. I have been very pleasantly surprised at how “worth it” private school has been. I am happy at the sacrifices we have had to make.
    We have not attended Girls’ Middle School ourselves, but have always heard favorable things about it.

  5. Instead of placing your kids into private school why not try to teach them how to ignore bullies and when it is right to stick up for themselves. Some people might consider those to be handy life lessons.

  7. People have as much right to an unmolested attendance at school as on the job. Discipline for any adverse act should be immediate and severe, and if the act is criminal the perp should be arrested and appropriately punished.

  8. Agree with Mare that bullying starts in 1st grade.

    Our elementary teacher said he quit being a middle school teacher due to the craziness of the girls in middle school.

    Bullying has nothing to do with parents being overinvolved. It is a result of parents notbeing nice people. If you look at the girl bully, you will find a less than satisfied life. Either the mom is overworked, overvolunteered, non-nurturing, or immature socially herself (gossips) an/or the dad is never around. Unfortunately, the moms of bullies don’t realize this and refuse to address the situation or even admit that their children are bullies. They can’t see it because they are too concerned about themselvs.

    Kids who come from caring, loving, nurturing families don’t care to bully others because they are already satified with themselves.

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