The problem isn't lack of bullies. There are plenty of bullies out there making life Hell for their peers. The real problems are twofold; lack of safe, unstructured, minimally supervised time for kids to sort out their own issues and engage in non-digitized creative play (by minimal supervision, I mean that somebody's mom is within hollering distance, and can check in periodically with juice boxes), and that kids no longer have the extended networks of older adults (neighbors, church friends, aunts and uncles) who used to provide kids with a solid sense of self that was based on rewarding virtuous behavior, instead of deriving all of their identity from unstable, mutually exploitative peer or online relationships.
Bowling Alone is a great book on this phenomenon.
Edit to add: Dr. Leonard Sax's books are also great
The rules are written so that "participating in a fight" means you are suspended. To a bully who probably doesn't want to be in school anyway, it's a reward.
To the honor student who participates on school activities like athletics, it can mean getting behind in classes and possibly getting kicked off the team.
The "participates in a fight" rule was written to protect cowardly administrators from having to make tough decisions and stand behind them.
Two kids get in a fight, just kick them both out. When parents come in to complain, shrug your shoulders and say, "It's out of my hands."
The school I teach at is mostly pretty conservative, but we get frustrated at many turns by having to comply with state and federal guidelines.
The problem isn't lack of bullies. There are plenty of bullies out there making life Hell for their peers. The real problems are twofold; lack of safe, unstructured, minimally supervised time for kids to sort out their own issues and engage in non-digitized creative play (by minimal supervision, I mean that somebody's mom is within hollering distance, and can check in periodically with juice boxes), and that kids no longer have the extended networks of older adults (neighbors, church friends, aunts and uncles) who used to provide kids with a solid sense of self that was based on rewarding virtuous behavior, instead of deriving all of their identity from unstable, mutually exploitative peer or online relationships.
Bowling Alone is a great book on this phenomenon.
Edit to add: Dr. Leonard Sax's books are also great
Teacher here.
The rules are written so that "participating in a fight" means you are suspended. To a bully who probably doesn't want to be in school anyway, it's a reward.
To the honor student who participates on school activities like athletics, it can mean getting behind in classes and possibly getting kicked off the team.
The "participates in a fight" rule was written to protect cowardly administrators from having to make tough decisions and stand behind them.
Two kids get in a fight, just kick them both out. When parents come in to complain, shrug your shoulders and say, "It's out of my hands."
The school I teach at is mostly pretty conservative, but we get frustrated at many turns by having to comply with state and federal guidelines.