[Mpls] Bullying

[Michael Atherton]

Shawn Marie Christenson wrote:

> I disagree.  

Well, that's certainly your right, but don't expect
anything to change because your values, rationalizations,
and expectations are the same as the people who are
running the schools.

> It IS exactly about role models - which includes 
> the parents, peers and school administrators you wrote 
> of - and yeah, even the President. Kids learn A LOT from 
> the people around them.  ALL of the people around
> them.  

When has it been different?  When I went to school we
had Lynden Johnson and Richard Nixon, the LAPD and
the SLA.  Today in Minneapolis we've got Phyllis Kahn
and the people who voted for her (60% of her district).
Just what period of history do you want to select that
was dominated by positive role models?

What controls bullying in the schools is enforcement
and sanctions, not positive role models.  The Golden
Rule of Social Dynamics:  You can't regulate behavior
without accountability.  Sympathy, empathy, and understanding
are not enough.

> And don't you think things like more money for 
> schools, programs and support might help take the 
> pressure off some of those people?

Take the pressure off which people?  The teachers? The parents?
The administrators?  The kids?  You think that more money
for after school programs is going reduce bullying?  I don't
think that you understand the social dynamics of bullying.

> I'm NOT shocked, Michael.  I'm unhappy that you place the 
> blame on others but at the same time don't see your own role 
> as a Minneapolis citizen as having being able to have some 
> impact on those around you.  We can do a lot of things in 
> this world, but who we ARE is what the kids are really looking
> at.

So you try to place the blame on me!?  I think that you are
seriously misguided.  This is a standard liberal tactic to
distribute blame and not focus on the real causes of the 
problem.  I don't believe that we're all in this together.  
If you want to accept the blame for bullying then that's your 
business.  I live what I believe is a principled life and that 
I am a positive role model and I have no intentions of sending
my children to the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Michael Atherton
Prospect Park