Debate, School | tags “suck”

Several years ago I had a conversation with a boy, Roy. He was seen as the leader of a group that abused and bullied others in the school. He was described as someone who ruled the entire gang, bullied others, and created great insecurities among his fellow students.

Thought provoking from Roy

After the summer holidays, Roy told me: “I visited Crete this summer. There I met a very cool Norwegian boy. We rented bicycles and drove off. He was good at swimming and diving and knew a lot about life at sea. He told me he was afraid to go back to school. He missed About school a lot, he said he was sick, he didn’t participate in the subjects, he couldn’t keep up, he usually sat and thought about how to avoid trouble during the break, and it was the worst of times.

“Adults can’t do anything. I thought a lot. Did the people I fooled feel the same? Were they terrified every day? Didn’t they sleep at night? I was just a fool? The teacher said many times that I was a bully. Was I? We talked a lot in Those days in Crete. During the holidays I decided to be someone else next school year.”

attempt to change

Roy goes on to talk about the first day of school: “I walked into the schoolyard. I was so worried, excited to see if I was capable of a change. The first thing I bumped into was ‘Kevin’. I took a risk and tried to be cheery and said ‘hi’. A teacher came and got angry and said, “You didn’t think about it during the summer holidays, I see. I’m reporting this to the manager! ”

My friends came over here and one of them said, “Did you see Kevin, he just ran away,” everyone laughed. Then I was at it again, I had no choice, Lysum.

unconscious mechanisms

Labels influence the way teachers think about students. How unconsciously we act in their face. Labels help control the measures that are put in place. You’re a bully, you just want to do “shit”, you just want to put other people down, and you just crunch your cake.

Teachers are mostly like everyone else, it’s easy to “read” the label first. When I step into the schoolyard, I will oppose all forms of classification that marginalize students. This is my mission as a professional teacher.

What medicine?

I was deeply moved by the “teacher’s heart” when I read parents’ and youth’s stories of bullying at Sandefjord School. I wonder if the Internal Oversight Resource Team will help? I wonder if the increased academic pressure in core subjects helps? I wonder if highlighting measurable skills and pressure to perform helps?

Representatives of the school owner, i.e. the political echelon, point out that bullying is an individual problem and encourage the bully to think twice over the summer break. As Jahnsen writes (SB 09.02.23) and as Roy speaks, bullying is more complex than that. It is a social phenomenon that has consequences for all students involved. Students did not choose to attend this school or this class. As teachers, we are responsible for building a classroom and school environment where everyone fits in.

We will monitor and provide personalized assistance if students are struggling with the ‘work’ of relationships with peers and teachers.

protection!

I am a member of Ethical Council for the Teaching Profession. It has strengthened my awareness of the school’s moral responsibility towards all pupils, parents and colleagues. I’m not going to just teach students topics or define proficiency levels. I will work actively to ensure the safety of all students at school, help strengthen positive ways of talking together, and promote behavior that is caring and empowering.

I will be a role model in terms of moral awareness. In the LK20, one of the headings is precisely “Critical Thinking and Moral Awareness” (1.3 LK20; 7). This will permeate my entire work as a teacher facing everyone who comes to the school. In all subjects, we must “develop students’ ability to make moral assessments.”

Everyone’s responsibility

How will we achieve this if not all staff, as well as the level of management at Sandefjord School, are themselves models of higher moral consciousness? We must stop labeling students who sometimes use inappropriate or unethical strategies to “survive” or find their place in communities at school, in the recreation arena, and in the local environment.

We cannot leave it to children and young people to change the attitudes and ways of thinking of the entire class or the school environment, including the teachers. that it for us responsible!