NJ high school so pathetic it’s rewarding kids for not bullying (Opinion)

Here’s one from the ‘now I have seen everything’ file.

Much has been talked about regarding bullying in our public schools of late. At a time when it’s already been years that New Jersey has had some of the toughest anti-bullying rules in the country with its Harassment Intimidation and Bullying protocols, there was a tragedy.

At Central Regional High School in Berkeley Adriana Kuch was viciously attacked in a hallway. Then cyber tortured with the sharing of a video of that attack. She took her life. She was 14.

So how do we address this scourge? Logic would say come down harder on those who bully. Present real consequences to those jerks.

One school district in Bayonne, New Jersey has a different idea. At Bayonne High School their plan is to give rewards for non-bullying. Yes, if you do the bare minimum (you know, what you're supposed to do), and don’t insult people, badger people, assault people, you get a reward for that. The school is giving everything from Fridays without homework to visits from ice cream trucks to half days. All for doing the bare minimum and following the rules.

So we now need to pay you to not be a jerk?

That's the message this is sending. It's institutionalized extortion. Pay me or I'll be a pain in the ass bully. I can't tell you how livid I was when I found out about this.

Talk about having administrators who don't have the stomach for the job before them. Stop letting the inmates run the asylum people. Do you have a problem bully? Stop coddling them. Come down on them hard. Be Joe Clark, the principal memorialized in the movie “Lean On Me.” Get tough for God’s sake. Take no crap. Change the culture.

But no, instead you're going to make matters worse acting as if bullying and being obnoxious and violent is so normal that it's worth some reward to rise above that base instinct? Shame on you. And shame on everyone who supports such nonsense.

Hey, here in the real world I never stabbed anyone. I never assaulted anyone. Do I get a free car payment for that? Maybe a Wegman’s gift card?

This is the mentality now in charge of our public schools and you should be very, very concerned.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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