But
many schools, and the school on trial in this article is no exception, claim to
have a zero tolerance policy. This policy would protect the student who is being
bullied, by punishing the one who is doing the bullying, accordingly. Although the zero
tolerance policy, in theory, would prove to be a safeguard for a bullied student,
given the rise of legal involvement in bullying cases and the tragic increase
in suicides as a result of bullying, the zero tolerance policy is clearly not
working to the degree that it should be.
I
also find myself asking, is suspending a bully really the solution to this type
of circumstance, or is it masking the problem and essentially taking the easy
way out of the situation. If there
are underlying issues that lie with the bully, I believe a more rehabilitative
approach needs to be taken to the root of the problem. Sadly however, teachers and school
administrators often times get flak for not having the resources or handling
situations in the best possible way.
As
I was reading this article, I got thinking about Michel Foucault and his
theories around discipline and power.
Specifically, his concept of a panoptical form of surveillance with the
intention of observing and controlling the actions and behaviors of
others. The panopticon structure
itself was created in a way that would provide a person in a position of power,
the authority to have a constant view of a subordinate’s actions and
behaviors. But the catch to this
concept, is that the panopticon could not be seen into by the subordinates, and only seen out of by the person in power.
By the subordinates being unable to ever truly know if someone was
watching them, the theory was that they would act and behave in a way that they
would if they knew they were being watched; in essence, always being on their best
behavior.
In
the case of bullying in schools, I question why more and more schools are not
taking a panoptic approach to these situations. The traditional panopticon structure was a large cylinder
structure that was placed directly in the center of a prison, but this sort of
placement would likely not be the most viable solution in a school
setting. Installing video cameras
and closed circuit televisions, I believe, would have very similar effects on
students, as were seen on the subordinates in the panopticon theory. Although it may not be entirely
possible to diminish bullying in schools, introducing this type of surveillance
would help with normalizing behaviors in schools, in addition to instilling a
sense of accountability with the bullies. By the sounds of an in class discussion we had concerning surveillance,
there are more schools found today with video surveillance throughout the
institution. Having attended a high school that did not have this sort of technology and approach to regulation, I was surprised to hear of those who did. What are your
thoughts?
the panopticon theory is very interesting it essentially in my opinion is like making us guinea pigs of our everyday lives. we become the experiment but who controls it. My old school had surveillance cameras installed to protect the students from bullies and potential threats from outside the school. As a student the one's who were picked on never told their teachers in fear of being harassed and bullied more. although cameras are a great step towards solving this issue, kids find ways of slipping through the cracks sort of speak. At my school we had a change room, your not allowed to have camera's in washrooms or change rooms which seem to be ideal spots for students. I am not sure how we could stop the hidden locations.
ReplyDeleteIts funny you mentioned the panopticon because I wrote a simliar review about bullying mentioning it as well. I however, mentioned it in as a solution an ideal world. In reality I dont think such a structure could ever be placed in a school; like the above post stated.. there are so many areas of the school where cameras are not allowed for privacy reasons. Unfortunately, these private areas are where the majority of teasing and bullying take place (physical and verbal bullying). In my review I focused more on cyber bullying because that has been the cause for most of the recent suicides. This type of bullying is even harder to monitor. The school board and parents are having a great deal of difficulty even thinking up ideas to slow the rate that rumurs spead over the internet. In my opinion, maybe there should be an age limit for accounts like facebook and twitter.. although with todays technology Im sure children would find ways around this.
ReplyDelete