Prior to an illegal teacher strike in Tacoma, I had never heard of any teachers insisting that they believed people should stand up to their bullies. I haven't heard that argument at any point after that strike ended. During the strike, standing up to bullies became a rallying cry.
When I was stuck in our mental prison system, the views my teachers had in regards to bullies was consistent. Don't confront them or you may escalate the problem. Instead, they insisted that you should inform an adult. The bizarre component of this argument was that the union was making the argument as an excuse to bully representatives of the district.
I should be fair. I did not come up through Tacoma schools. It is possible that Tacoma embraced a complete 180 in comparison to my experiences. Even if they did, how is it that I never heard the argument when students were actually involved? How come this strong belief claimed by the teachers has only ever been apparent when the teachers clearly had something to gain from it?
Personally, I wanted the students to learn this lessons. Growing up, there was no question whatsoever that my biggest bullies were my teachers. They repeatedly demanded that I gave them total control over my childhood or they would destroy my entire future.
I would love it if students started standing up to their bullies. That means they need to stand up to their teachers. If any teachers are reading this, let me provide you with a quick warning. Be careful what you wish for. Do you honestly want all of your students standing up to you?
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