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Friday, January 6, 2012
I continue my story......
I was scheduled
to be released from my school and my principal's tyranny in April of 2009. I’d gone
to him much earlier—soon after I started there-- and stated I did not want to stay. I told him that
I was not a boat rocker and that I simply did not fit at that school.
Although I did not have
a new assignment--in fact I turned down a counselor position with a principal I liked very much--I just knew that with this
man and with his other counselors and assistant principal, I was the square peg and they and he the round hole.
It just wasn’t working.
Here’s the irony:
my bully boss allowed the opportunity to get rid of me go. In fact, and I believe this to be a symptom of
his inflated and fragile ego, with my words, “I do not want to stay here,” he wanted me to stay even more.
I received a phone call from him soon after that. He proudly said, “I secured
you.”
Let’s stop here for a moment. I
want you to recall that I am a school counselor. I want you to contemplate what you think school counselors
do. You may think we facilitate student groups and presentations. With the attention
surrounding bullying and the recognition of the horrific impact on children, you might think counselors are encouraged to
and supported in bullying prevention efforts.
At my former school, you would be wrong.
Here’s one of the activities I presented to children. I introduced them to the Olweus
Bullying Circle. Following that presentation they, their teachers and I took part in a fun activity to identify roles they
believed were played in bullying situations by the majority of children at the school.
It was
eye opening kind of stuff. “Oh wow,” I heard from teachers. “Wow, the administrators
need to see this,” they would exclaim.
The students left those presentations empowered and excited. It did not last.
For to last all staff must be committed to it. To last, a school leader needs to communicate his
enthusiastic and knowledgeable support. That did not happen. Instead of supporting me,
I was labeled “confrontational and uncooperative”.
More story next week. It seems I am putting
together a book about workplace bullying and violence. Thanks for letting me know.
Have
fun out there!
Remember to laugh. It helps.
Kim
5:46 am est
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Click here for my district's bullying and harassment policy. You will see I have made comments....
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