“Prince George’s County Public Schools spokesperson Max Pugh says they are investigating and that a letter about the incident will be sent home to parents on Wednesday.”
Thank goodness! There will be a letter! That should go a long way to stopping bullying and kids acting like animals. Maybe they could also start some more anti-bullying programs!
What happens when kids get bored? What happens when you cram 75 kids into a gym with nothing to do? What happens when there are administrators, teachers, parents, and a media that think if only we write more letters, make more rules, start more programs, and have celebrities wringing their hands and preaching about it? Do you think kids pay attention to any of these so-called solutions? No.
Read any childhood development book (the chapter about how a kid’s frontal lobe develops is especially helpful), then re-read Lord of the Flies and check out any number of the current overzealous playground rule books and draw your own conclusions.
Any normal parent can tell you bored and misdirected and over-regulated and controlled kids WILL discover immature, inappropriate, and ultimately dangerous activities to engage in. That includes bullying. And once they get a taste of it, with no immediate consequences besides “a letter”, there WILL be more to come. And it will escalate.
To be clear, I’m NOT referring to bullies who are the spawn of bully parents that aren’t actually parenting and could care less about what happens in school with their kid and if they do get involved, it’s to act like a bully. That’s another whole disgusting subject entirely. I’m addressing the idea that public schools have gone so far overboard with keeping kids under control, protected, unmotivated, bored, and ultimately not immediately responsible for their bullying actions. Kids don’t care about letters. And parents of bullies don’t either.
That’s why new and compelling hard evidence coming from schools in New Zealand should be studied intently by the statist, controlling playground nannies.
Ripping up the playground rulebook is having incredible effects on children at an Auckland school.
The school is actually seeing a drop in bullying, serious injuries and vandalism, while concentration levels in class are increasing.
“The kids were motivated, busy and engaged. In my experience, the time children get into trouble is when they are not busy, motivated and engaged. It’s during that time they bully other kids, graffiti or wreck things around the school.”
More from the article:
AUT professor of public health Grant Schofield, who worked on the research project, said there are too many rules in modern playgrounds.
“The great paradox of cotton-woolling children is it’s more dangerous in the long-run.”
Society’s obsession with protecting children ignores the benefits of risk-taking, he said.
Children develop the frontal lobe of their brain when taking risks, meaning they work out consequences. “You can’t teach them that. They have to learn risk on their own terms. It doesn’t develop by watching TV, they have to get out there.”
The research project morphed into something bigger when plans to upgrade playgrounds were stopped due to over-zealous safety regulations and costly play equipment.
“There was so many ridiculous health and safety regulations and the kids thought the static structures of playgrounds were boring.”
When researchers – inspired by their own risk-taking childhoods – decided to give children the freedom to create their own play, principals shook their heads but eventually four Dunedin schools and four West Auckland schools agreed to take on the challenge, including Swanson Primary School.
It was expected the children would be more active, but researchers were amazed by all the behavioural pay-offs. The final results of the study will be collated this year.
“Society’s obsession with protecting children ignores the benefits of risk-taking, he said.”
Yeah, risks like being a bully, then getting your ass whipped.
Lisa says: I am a grade 4 teacher in PGCPS county. I teach about 15 miles from Thomas Claggett Elementary, where this incident occurred. The above article has valid points. Part of the problem is kids are bored and not engaged due to the many rules and control. Which all the rules and control, and the lack of engagement is a main problem. When I say “lack of engagement” I mean what were the 75 kids doing in the cafeteria during that recess? Was there recess equipment, such as balls, board games, flash cards, etc? Or were the kids supposed to just sit there quietly in their seats and “clap back the pattern” every now and again when the teacher “clapped a pattern” when it became too loud? More rules and rigidity is not the answer but part of the problem, as the article states. Lack of supervision is a problem. Student to teacher ratio is a major problem, especially in this school system. These parents need to raise hell. I read a comment by the mother of the young girl who says in so many words she dreads sending the girl back to school. I feel for the mother. This incident is sickening and should have made national news. A 7 year old baby girl was beaten unconscious at school by her classmates while teachers stood by, doing what? The principal and vice principal of this building should have that letter they sent home shoved up their ass! As for the 5 teachers, wow I do not know what to say? I imagine the guilt, alone would eat at their soul. But I could be wrong.
Lisa says: Someone needs to be held accountable and charged accordingly in this tragedy.
I wonder what the 7 year old girl’s last thoughts were as she fell unconscious?
This is a wake up call. Luckily, the girl will physically recover from her concussion. However, what about the mental and psychological damage the will result from being beaten unconscious, at your Maryland,public elementary school, by your classmates?
The only thing that will allow evil to prevail is for good people to stand by and do nothing.
Someone needs to be held accountable for these violent actions which lead to the injury of this young girl….be it the parents of the children who beat the girl, the teachers, the administration, and/or school system. As for the children who caused the harm, a product of their parents and teachers. They should be charged for that too! or, pardon my sick sarcasm, just send a letter and “keep it moving”.
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