During public comment at Tuesday’s city council meeting, a mother came forward to speak of her six-year-old daughter’s treatment at Montgomery Elementary School.
“Recently, just attending Davis School District, she has learned to identify herself in ways of her ethnicity, which I didn’t teach her,” said the mother. “I was pretty surprised by some of the things she was saying.”
“Just this semester she began labeling herself as well as others,” she continued. “I’ve never taught her that before. She’s been teased regarding her hair, amongst other things.”
The mother continued, “She has also been treated differently by her teachers and her principal.”
“Recently, she has been punched in the stomach, she has been exposed to someone’s genital area as well as her hair has been cut from that same person,” she explained.
The mother said she has spoken with the teacher, the principal, the superintendent, “and they have done nothing in order to resolve this issue especially with the boy in particular.”
“I have also requested that she be removed from the class and that has actually been denied,” she continued. “As a UC Davis student, I have become aware of the long history of racial problems in Davis. I understand the city of Davis is taking steps to improve the cultural climate and I’m hoping that the efforts would extent to the school climate.”
She asked the city council what they would be able to do to help her.
Mayor Dan Wolk let her know that, while the council was not able to act on her comments, she was directed to speak with City Manager Dirk Brazil, who spoke with her outside as did Councilmember Rochelle Swanson.
The comment comes just days after the city’s Human Relations Commission held their third annual Breaking the Silence event where over a dozen people came forward to discuss a variety of issues that impacted them in the community.
One of the panelists, Jennifer Mullen, talked about programs that the district had implemented, including at Montgomery.
She talked about the move toward more a restorative-based approached. She said that the theme “restorative” is “the major focus in the school district right now. We are working towards building capacity for understanding in the district for restorative practices, by training teachers and students and staff.”
“Our intention in that is really to make a paradigm shift,” she said. “It’s not just a set of tools or programs, but it really is a shift in thinking.” They want to “create safe spaces for dialogues” to “have conversations and to really listen to one another, hear each other’s narratives and stories.”
Newly-elected school board member Madhavi Sunder noted, “Hate is not a DJUSD value.”
“School climate is a high priority,” she said. “In fact, it is the priority when you talk to principals and teachers. The community recognizes if students do not feel safe and welcome, they cannot learn and thrive.”
School climate, she said is safety and the relationships with peers, teachers and counselors. She said they are taking a holistic look at what climate is. She talked about a lot of the programs that are currently offered at some of the schools.
Ms. Sunder said, “A new direction that we’re going (is) restorative justice programs. When you look at the literature on school to prison pipelines and what is one effective way of breaking out of that – the idea of restorative justice, bringing the parties together to help develop mutual understanding.”
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Sounds like a bully problem.
Sounds like if the perp were an adult, they would standing trial for assault.
I wonder where she got that perception?
When Davis was less “diverse” and had more of the agriculture people, regular middle class individuals, I don’t recall these issues always being brought up. It seems like it is the new influx of citizens, sensitivity, and liberalism.
Where do they learn to label? Liberalism seems obsessed with it.
“I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
It’s hard to have that day given inequality and when you’re kids are apparently singling you out by race.
Inequality is a loaded term and can be caused by a variety of reasons, and we’ve seen no proof that her daughter was singled out due to race.
We’re never going to see proof that the daughter was singled out due to race, so does that mean we (or the school officials) should do nothing?
What do you mean by “inequality” in this context?
I don’t have any idea what that means.
Your comments aren’t making any sense.
You wrote: “We’re never going to see proof that the daughter was singled out due to race,”
How do you / we know this? Numerous readers here want to see more information. Oddly, you want the right to make the accusation, you want us to roll around in it and feel collective guilt and have communal action, yet you don’t care if we have or get any proof.
You also wrote: “so does that mean we (or the school officials) should do nothing?”
We should get more information. If communication needs to improve, if there is a problem child (bully), if the ball got dropped, or if there is some other issue, deal with it.
If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
“How do you / we know this? ”
I’ve been doing this for almost nine years, I’ve covered a lot of these matters. Just my experience. My hope is that the school district will get enough information to be able to figure out what happened, but I think it’s unlikely that we the public learn more.
That’s an interesting point, so you’re argument is that when Davis was 80 to 90 percent right, you didn’t see these issues as often? Is that really surprising?
“when Davis was 80 to 90 percent right, ” Typo, or “Freudian slip”? [tongue firmly in cheek]
Sorry, typing on my ipad.
Of course not, I don’t think anyone is disagreeing that “something” should be “done”.
it seems like a lot of effort went in for people not disagreeing that something should be done. it’s amazing how people who have no idea what happened will battle to the death it seems every time the “r” word comes up. the lady doth protest too much.
TBD: When Davis was less “diverse” and had more of the agriculture people, regular middle class individuals, I don’t recall these issues always being brought up. It seems like it is the new influx of citizens, sensitivity, and liberalism.
How long have you lived in Davis?
I don’t know what you mean by “regular middle class individuals.” I like to think I’m a regular middle class individual, but I have the feeling you probably mean someone more like yourself and less like me, whatever that might be.
Davis flipped from being a more agricultural community to being more dominated by UCD and suburban sensibilities in about the 1970’s.
a lot of strange comments from tbd, not sure what his angle is.
The College of Letters and Science brought a lot of (liberal) social scientists to town who seem to be easily offended, and seem to pass on those sensibilities. Not all of them, but enough.
TBD: The College of Letters and Science brought a lot of (liberal) social scientists to town who seem to be easily offended, and seem to pass on those sensibilities.
Were you around to witness this? Please elaborate.
How so? Very vague.
Vagueness: how to win an argument with no evidence, in one’s own mind.
BP
“Just this semester she began labeling herself as well as others,” she continued. “I’ve never taught her that before.”
And this part ? Does labeling herself as well as others” sound like just a “bully” problem? Must it be just one or the other ? Do you not believe that the choice of whom to ‘bully” can be based on racial or ethnic issues ?
And you know she was bullied because of race how?
BP
I don’t know. And I don’t believe that you do either and yet you are discrediting the mother’s assertion. It would appear to me that her mother, who doubtless knows her child better than either you or I, believes that her daughters actions seem to be changing and that she is racially identifying and labeling now when she did not do so previously and that what has changed is her exposure to these ideas at school. I think perhaps her mother may be the individual best positioned to know what is happening to her daughter.
Lets take it out of the realm of “race” for a moment. Let’s say that you have a child who has never sworn because you have never sworn at home and don’t allow them any unmonitored screen time so they don’t have exposure to words that are unacceptable to you. Then they go to school and come home swearing. Would it not be reasonable to think that they probably learned this behavior from their classmates ?
How would identifying this as race-based help solve the bullying issue? How would that change what needs to be done?
How would ignoring the racial component help solve the issue?
“How would ignoring the racial component help solve the issue?” How would ignoring the non-racial, perhaps predominant components help solve the issue?
I wouldn’t suggest either. The school district is setting up restorative practices, this situation seems to scream for that kind of approach.
“How would ignoring the racial component help solve the issue?”
How does answering my question with a question solve anything?
(and, yes, I answered your question to my question with a question)
Who’s on first?
BP
I cannot help but wonder why it seems so important to you to discount that their could be a racial component to what this child is experiencing.
There could be a racial component, but I didn’t really see it in the story. Why are others so fast to jump aboard and claim racism?
My response would be identical to BP’s.
“Why are others so fast to jump aboard and claim racism?”
Who do you see as “jumping aboard and claiming racism” ? We are the only two commenters so far and I made no claim of racism. I merely questioned your assertions against there being a racial component.
Once again, I didn’t see anything in the story that would have me automatically thinking it was racism.
Whenever I see vague quotes like “She has also been treated differently by her teachers and her principal” makes me wonder and take pause. I’d like to hear the teachers and principal’s side of this.
The main part was when she talked about the labels at the beginning – while she didn’t state what they were, in context, it was pretty clear they were racial labels.
Also at the end, she mentioned the history of race and the progress that the ciyt has made- that makes it pretty clear she thought this was a racial issue.
“the progress that the ciyt has made-”
What does that mean (I don’t mean the way city is spelled)?
Alan, with all due respect I wish you had stuck around last night past your public comment and watched the discussion on the ACR.
“Alan, with all due respect I wish you had stuck around last night past your public comment and watched the discussion on the ACR.”
No disrespect taken; I had another commitment.
I’ll watch the discussion; if you can give me a time on the city vid that would help but I’m sure I’ll find it.
I agree, it sounded like bullying was evident, but the other items weren’t expressly alleged.
I doubt the school has done “nothing”, but it’s worth following up on.
so i pose the same question to you as i did to alan miller – if you think it’s worth following up on, why are you so willing to go to the mat over the “r” word that you really don’t know if it was or was not a factor?
Is my logic that convoluted, or yours?
This may be one of many differences between progressives and conservatives. I’m for facts, get the facts out there, the context, the particulars. Is this garden variety bullying, or is it something else? “Something else” could be a few dozen reasons, only one of which is racism. It also sounds like there might be one particular boy who is causing much of the issue. I think it is not only fruitless, but harmful, to throw around loaded terms like “racism” without an examination of the circumstances. If one 6-year-old boy has caused this havoc, and administrators had an ineffective response, that doesn’t equate to racism. Or they handled it well, and maybe the mother has unrealistic expectations, and DJUSD administrators can’t comment due to privacy issues. I’ve never heard of a parent going to a city council meeting to get help with playground / school issues. Where I come from, charges of racism are serious, and aren’t treated like Kleenex, but maybe times have changed.
But the left does indoctrinate and charges of racism are the coin of the day. I recently witnessed a junior college student assert that a 9-year-old child was “racist” because of their choice of animated hero! Then when I tried to correct the foggy thinking of the young liberal, the liberal parent stepped in because they didn’t want an uncomfortable conversation, which is equally foggy.
BP
It would appear that we are choosing to emphasize different statements in our analysis of the limited information that we have been given. I also would like to hear the perspective of the teacher and the principle and think that hearing all sides would be necessary to come to any conclusion. What was bothersome to me is that it appeared to me that you had reached a conclusion based solely on the sentences that you selected while ignoring the others. I am still wondering what you make of the new onset of “labeling behavior”.
I haven’t reached any conclusions. I just didn’t see enough in the story to come to the conclusion that it’s about racism. There could be a little six year bully picking on and saying racist things to her daughter and that should be dealt with. But when I see things said that Davis has a long history of racism (which IMO isn’t true) and that her daughter is being treated differently by the teachers and principal without proof or hearing the other side I have to take a step back.
“which IMO isn’t true”
I don’t know why you think that. You should read the 1989 Civil Rights report that John Meyer did, there were extensive complaints about people of color not being served in places of business. There was also in the 70s some white supremacy issues, Bill Calhoun always passes along an article from the 1970s about the chants and signs at a DHS basketball game. I just think you really don’t know what the history has been here with regards to people of color.
Here we are again, going back 30, 40, 50 years. Yes there was racism and slavery, but I don’t think Davis is today a racist environment and hasn’t been for a long time. Can we just all move on and quit dragging the community through the mud?
That’s what “history” is. Have things improved? Absolutely. The lady who spoke last night even acknowledged it. I think that’s what makes it all the more shocking when it still happens.
In spring of 1990 there was an issue that arose in the Spanish Department at UC Davis in which some professors felt that some dialects of Spanish were too impure to be studying. That only the “Castilian” dialect of Spain was the true Spanish to be studying. At various times in various places in the U.S., this kind of undercurrent has existed.
But it got bad enough that one Spanish professor ended calling a certain kind of Chicano dialect as “barrio crap.” That hit a number of Mexican-American/Latino students in a bad way. I suppose it might be equivalent to identifying someone with a U.S. southern dialect as being low class and uneducated.
Unfortunately, if a community is great and open minded as far as race relations go, as I think Davis is, if they have even one racist incident in the past then they therefore have a history of racism.
I guess I don’t share your view of Davis. I think it’s a more mixed bag.
BP, I agree that what happened a few weeks ago to our Jewish brothers is more relevant and imporant than what happened 40 years ago
“I think it’s a more mixed bag.”
It is a mixed bag:
• A whole lot of good, decent people who aren’t racists and who don’t label people.
• A few racist assholes
• And a few people who label everyone and claim Davis is a racist community and claim every incident that might be racist based IS racist based.
Yup, a mixed bag.
I think the mix is different. Very few overtly racist people. A few people insensitive. A few people fearful of crime and believing that minorities are connected to crime, therefore justifying racial profiling and biased policing in their own minds. A bunch of people kind of indifferent to people of color the plight of ethnic and racial minorities. A bunch of people who hate conflict and don’t want to deal with problems. The problem we have repeat themselves and fester until people become angry and things blow up. We calm down, life goes bck to how it was, the majority think the problems are of the past and are surprised the next time they come up again.
This Jewish brother was quite not-surprised when the race-article-of-the-week in the Davis Enterprise that week was on: black-white issues. Thanks!
Alan, I hope you know that “brother” is a term of affection…. I’m assuming you thought a better title would be Palestinian – Jewish or Muslim-Jewish issues?
TBD, I took no offense.
I am easily annoyed, not easily offended.
LOL Alan, then you’ll never be able to speak at any Break the Silence of Racism forum.
” I also would like to hear the perspective of the teacher and the principle and think that hearing all sides would be necessary to come to any conclusion. ”
And we won’t, it would expose them to liability.
If the schools are serious about employing a restorative approach, they will have to do exactly what Tia suggests.
Alan
“And we won’t, it would expose them to liability.
This is true. And unfortunately it is also convenient because it means that it is unlikely that both sides will be fully heard and therefore all sides considered. This allows both sides to hunker down behind their preferred interpretation. Either “a culture of racism” or “we don’t have racism here” depending on your perspective. Pity that we can’t just talk things through without the issue of liability. Maybe we might find a more constructive way of working through issues if we weren’t always under the shadow of a law suit.
I agree with Tia, this mother knows her child probably better than anyone else. I did not read all the comments here, but can only guess that there is a push back re: her claim of racial bullying. I just don’t understand why someone would disagree that another person feels their child is being profiled or treated differently because of their race. If the reader is white and has never had to deal with such behavior, how can they question someone else who has experienced it? Why does the same reader always disregard racism? I just don’t get it.
I also don’t understand why on earth her request for her child to be removed was denied. I would home school my child before I’d allow this to occur. Is it just one kid who punched her, cut her hair, and exposed himself? He is learning that behavior somewhere. Someone should call CPS to report this aggressive behavior, if the school is not doing anything about this.
You have your own odd assumptions and false stereotypes. Why would you assume that someone who is white hasn’t had to deal with racism?
Hate crimes happen to white people, and there are also countless hate crimes committed against whites which will never be labeled as such due to political correctness. There is a clear double standard. Atrocious crimes are committed against Europeans and European Americans that garner far less attention because the victim(s) are white / political correctness.
“Why would you assume that someone who is white hasn’t had to deal with racism?”
As a white looking Jew, I have had to deal with racism. It’s a weird racism. Something about how I and my people are responsible for killing Jesus Christ.
I think the issue is less about whether white people have been subjected to racism, it happens and when it does, it’ is the wrong.
The problem I have is a lot of people see the two acts as equivalent and they’re not. The history in country of white supremacy by legal and de facto means, forms a basis for a distinction.
And so you have been taught.
But then why doesn’t this history impact and hurt Ethiopian-American and Nigerian-Americans?
Why do we see so few Asian Americans asserting racism and grievance?
Or is it that white Americans are being discriminated against by Japanese-Americans, Chinese-Americans, and East Indian and Chinese immigrants (H1B Visas taking American STEM jobs)?
I would say I have learned more than been taught. I would also point out that Asian Americans as a group are not a monolith. The more affluent group from the more northern reaches are largely high achievers. However, from southeast Asian, the socioeconomics more closely resembles blacks and Hispanics. For the most part, in response to your last point, Japanese and Chinese are not in positions of power in this country, certainly not politically for the most part.
Whites are not a monolith, either.
Interesting that you have to assert where Japanese and Chinese Americans aren’t supposedly powerful (Rose Pak, Daniel Inoye), but you don’t tell us where they are powerful / successful. Small business formation, high academic achievement, high college admission rates, high family formation rates, and low crime rates (last I read), Doesn’t fit the narrative?
It sounds like the child IS being treated differently because of (fill in the blank, including race).
She thinks I’m white, but ask Alan Miller, I’m half white, half black, half man and half woman, half liberal and half conservative. But she doesn’t read my posts so once again this will just float out in the ether.
Well, ether people listen to you, or, they don’t. But, as it’s almost Spring, the ether bunny is coming!
“If the reader is white and has never had to deal with such behavior, how can they question someone else who has experienced it?”
The ability to hear statements of fact from neighbours, without editorilising and imposing their own preconceptions apparently does not exist in Davis. See any past discussions of racism on this forum.
;>)/
I have experienced racism in the most disgusting forms, and it has been in the military, and UC Davis. There was a stretch of time where I would be asked to come to interviews “as a favor” because they needed a mix of applicants to interview when a woman or a race other than white, preferably both, were going to get the job. Usually someone related to a current employee was hired, Nepotism being what it is.
You can display an org chart of the University that looks like a family tree. Faculty is usually hired with a guarantee the spouse will be given a job. Worse than racism to me. Lots of small businesses are like that too.
David
Without more information, I do not believe it would be possible to reach a conclusion about any particular case. However, what I do see from multiple comments when the Vanguard is what I consider a proximity bias.
In my office this manifests itself in the willingness of many patients to accept the medical advice of their non medically informed girl friend or co worker over that of years worth of medical studies and evidence. This is because the opinion of someone we know is often more powerful in influencing our opinions than any amount of dry statistics or facts. Frankly recently illustrated this point beautifully when posting that he had been skeptical about restorative justice practices until someone he knew personally had had positive experiences and vouched for the practice.
I think that we see this phenomenon in those who deny that there is a history and/or current racial discrimination occurring in Davis. We simply tend not to “see” or attempt to discredit that which does not affect us personally. That is why I have repeated on several occasions my direct encounter with racism. I am also subject to this type of bias and as a white woman, have not encountered much in terms of racial discrimination.This episode was an eye opener for me demonstrating that, yes, people are still overtly racist, and will likely be raising their own children to be overtly racist and that to deny or minimize the impact of this form of discrimination just because it does not occur in my daily life on a regular basis is counter productive.
My concern is that any time an issue is raised – particularly in cases where we don’t have full information which is most of the time – the automatic impulse by many here is to discount it. I think that leads us to not explore whether there are problems and even if it turns out to be perception or misperception, we can learn from that as well.
The logic here is wrong on several points. I have worked for years in predominantly black communities, and have had hundreds of exchanges that weren’t polite or normal. Was my default explanation racism? No. Some people were tired, some were rude to everyone regardless of race, some were stressed, and numerous other reasons. But I take each individual exchange on its own merits.
So you don’t “explore” problems, the default is set. I think a one-note drumbeat can do us harm.
Concerning Tia’s allegation of what happens on a “daily basis”, I asked a well-educated black friend how racism affects him on a daily basis. He paused, he thought, he paused again, and finally he said, “When I get in an elevator with white women, they take out their keys.” I chuckled and replied, “They do the same thing when I get in an elevator with them! … it started about 15 years ago as part of the new self-defense classes. It is also more prone to happen to me at night, or when I’m in a big city, I’m sure you may have also seen that pattern.” He nodded in agreement.
I don’t think a white person, coming from a position of at least relative if not absolute privilege is in a parallel position.
“I don’t think a white person, coming from a position of at least relative if not absolute privilege”
Looks like, in your view, ‘white person’ = ‘position of at least relative, if not absolute privilege’. That of course is provable fact, and isn’t a racist statement at all.
What if the white person grew up in the projects, on food stamps, in Modesto or Appalachia, with one parent, in poverty? It seems like David is stereotyping white folks as wealthy or privileged.
That’s why I differentiated relative from absolute privilege.
I guess we should also add that Asian and Jewish Americans come from a position of at least relative if not absolute privilege, too. We might have to ad in Nigerian-Americans for good measure.
“They do the same thing when I get in an elevator with them!”
That’s kinda the point in all this. When someone experiences racism, as many people do, some tend to see racism in many things that aren’t racist.
I think the point many of us are making here is how destructive that is. None of us (well, speaking for myself) are saying there are no more racists. All we are say – ing, is at a certain point seeing racism where it is not is hindering race relations.
Mr. Miller – Bingo! Crying Wolf isn’t a great idea.
It might be helpful if David or someone else were able to interview her to get additional information. I am concerned that she chose the city council to address this issue publicly instead of the school board which would be the appropriate venue, especially after meeting with the superintendent. There is a formal complaint process that she could use that would end up with the school board but may not be timely. She could also publicly address the school board much like she did the city council. I would hate to see another $20,000 investigation by lawyers. I thought the schools were moving towards using restorative practices which sounds like a mediation of some sort involving all effected parties. With the school privacy issues there is no way that we will get any relevant information on this case from the school district. All the public will be left with is an allegation, which may or may not be true. It would get really interesting if she publicly identified the other child’s parents and forced them into the spotlight to get some sort of resolution. That (the nuclear option) may be her only viable option if the school district is not responsive to her concerns.
I guess it’s just me, but am scratching my head as why an apparently intelligent, articulate person, with deep concerns about her child and the school climate, picked the CC “Public Comment” forum, rather than addressing the DJUSD Board. Am assuming it was referred to CM so the distinction could be expressed to her without the public embarrassment.
Addressing zaqzaq and Hpierce – I got the sense that she had felt like she exhausted her options with the school district and therefore went to the council. I will say that Dirk Brazil and Rochelle Swanson both talked to her and a city staffer got her information. In addition, I forwarded this article to the school board, Kate Snow who is Climate Coordinator for DJUSd and Winfred Roberson the Superintendent. Hopefully there will be some clarification.
“I got the sense that she had felt like she exhausted her options with the school district…” If she has real reason(s) to feel that way, that’s a potentially damning indictment of the teacher, principal, appropriate admin staff and the Superintendent.
Will be interesting to see if you and the community get clarification…
This is the race-obsessed Davis social justice crusaders doing what they do… living in their white, progressive and tolerant community… frustrated in the lack of action for their case… and making up crap to keep themselves busy and give meaning to their crusade.
There is nothing racial in any of this other than the mother and others trying to turn it into a racial thing. The girl could have just as easily have red hair, freckles and braces and be the subject of the gauntlet of youthful taunting and picking that is the norm. This sounds like it has gone too far and is into the bullying area. So the bullying needs to be dealt with, but also… I hope the parents and the school helps this girl learn about and develop coping skills. Kids seek out the insecure to pick on to make themselves feel better by comparison. One of the most effective ways to help prevent a kid from being a target is to help them develop their own self-confidence. However, this does not excuse bullying. The bullying needs to stop. But there is a line between typical kid socialization and bullying. And there is a line between what is truly racism and what is simply kid socialization and bullying.
“This is the race-obsessed Davis social justice crusaders doing what they do… living in their white, progressive and tolerant community… frustrated in the lack of action for their case… and making up crap to keep themselves busy and give meaning to their crusade.”
that is a load of nonsense. this was a frustrated mother who came to the council to express her grievances after getting a deaf ear from the school district.
And why is she getting a deaf ear from DJUSD, which is an organization that is exemplary?
they’ve poorly handled the achievement gap and climate issues for years, so i’m not sure why you would claim that.
Basic logic would get us to the racist Democrat female teachers, if we want to swallow the liberal idealogy.
I agree the bullying has to be dealt with, and part of this is something children have to learn.
I don’t think this is particularly helpful, but one thing I would say is that racial issues do not know partisan, ideological, or gender lines.
Spot on Frank Lee! Spot on.
Frankly
“But there is a line between typical kid socialization and bullying. And there is a line between what is truly racism and what is simply kid socialization and bullying”
You didn’t use the word “fine line” but I will insert it. Exposing one’s genitals, punching and hair cutting” are attacks, two of them physical. This is not your standard bullying. This sexual and physical abuse needs to be stopped immediately and definitively. This one child, and all the other children need to know that this is absolutely unacceptable behavior regardless of whether or not racially motivated. This is simply not “typical kid socialization” and I am surprised that you would even mention this with regard to these extreme types of behavior.
““Recently, she has been punched in the stomach, she has been exposed to someone’s genital area as well as her hair has been cut from that same person,” she explained.”
hpierce: “I guess it’s just me, but am scratching my head as why an apparently intelligent, articulate person, with deep concerns about her child and the school climate, picked the CC “Public Comment” forum, rather than addressing the DJUSD Board. Am assuming it was referred to CM so the distinction could be expressed to her without the public embarrassment.”
Well it is good to know bullying is still alive and well in Davis schools. I am not the least bit surprised (and “I told you so” to all the previous naysayers and apologists for DJUSD!). Why did this mother choose to take her concerns to the City Council? The mother gave the answer, which does not astonish me in the least: “The mother said she has spoken with the teacher, the principal, the superintendent, “and they have done nothing in order to resolve this issue especially with the boy in particular.”” This type of thing was going on when my kids were in school and it looks like nothing has changed. I would strongly encourage this woman to keep up the pressure to get this issue resolved.
And just as added context, when I had this problem with one of my kids, the only thing that worked was taking pictures of my child’s battered face, sending it along with a letter to the superintendent of schools, stating if my child were physically harmed again, I would sue the school. I immediately received a phone call from the Superintendent himself, stating to immediately contact him if there were any further trouble.
The DJUSD did a very poor job, IMO, of addressing the bullying issue, and it appears same old, same old. Whether this incident was based on race is almost beside the point. Whether it was or wasn’t, the bullying needs to stop, and the only way that is going to happen is if the teacher, principal and/or superintendent intervene. It sounds, from the mother’s words, there is a problem with one particular boy. Why would the school keep allowing this boy to terrorize this girl, unabated? I can guess, because the same thing happened to one of my children. The parent involved was very vocal – so I called in the police. That got the job done. Shame on the DJUSD for allowing this bullying to fester.
completely agree on this one.
I completely agree as well, A-Non. I especially agree with the statement:
The Mother is a student, so she may be young and doesn’t know all of her options.
She also said “I have become aware of the long history of racial problems in Davis. I understand the city of Davis is taking steps to improve the cultural climate and I’m hoping that the efforts would extent to the school climate.”, so it sounds like she has received indoctrination I never received as an undergraduate. We were busy with Sadie Hawkins Dance, Picnic Day, intramurals, midterms, movies, dating, future and summer plans.
Where did you get from “became aware” to “indoctrination” ?
““As a UC Davis student, I have become aware of the long history of racial problems in Davis.”
I am calling BS on this.
I believe the mother has grievances about how the school district is handling what is obviously a problem with inter-young-child relationships. How the child is “different” is pretty much how young children of that age torture each other: it can be based on anything. Everything she described sounds very familiar to me, and I was a white kid (yes, I’m Jewish, but I don’t think that ever came up when I was six, so I doubt that race ever entered it, for all practical purposes, I was white). Kids picked on me and other kids in similar ways, for whatever way we were “different”. Race is one way kids of that age see “different”.
I’ll say it again: I agree there are racists in Davis. Racists are jerks. Racists are everywhere. Labeling Davis as a “racist” community is a weird, counter-productive way of thinking that means nothing and solves nothing.
you can say it again and you’re wrong again. no one has labeled the community as racist, they have simply identified racial issues. you are choosing to ignore it by painting this as business as usual. it’s not especially when the district refuses to address it.
Thanks for telling me I’m WRONG. Great attitude towards the discussion. Of course, I’ve told you that you are WRONG in past discussions, so I’m a hypocrite and an ass.
I’m saying this isn’t a race issue, it’s a some-children-are-evil-satanic-sadists-towards-their-fellow-students issue.
Bullying is real, and difficult to “solve”. Painting this as a Davis-race-issues issue shoe-horns the child in victim mode, perpetuating the problem.
Alan, when I was in school I was called the “K” word for Jews. I’m fairly convinced the other kid wasn’t aware of what the word meant, but at the same time, he had to get from somewhere. Six years old seems like a great time to teach kids why it’s wrong. The bigger concern for me would be how it has been handled – but we’ll hopefully we’ll see.
Not sure anyone will agree with this [and, don’t care], but appears to me that if what has been related as true, it looks like an individual problem, not a “community” problem, except perhaps in the “response(s)”.
I grew up in a “wonder bread” environment. At six years old, there were no “minorities”.
Our kids grew up in Davis. Our youngest had two best friends at that time. One was 1/2 ‘black’, 1/2 ‘white’, the other 1/2 ‘asian’, 1/2 ‘white’. They identified themselves as “turtles”, not on any racial lines (yeah, early 90’s). I can identify with the mother’s contention that she didn’t teach her daughter to self-identify as ‘black’, minority, etc. Suspect it is all a 6-year can do to identify with family, and their own name.
~ 6 years old is when kids start identifying by gender, and they are curious about it. Many old jokes about “you show me yours, I’ll show you mine”, or, “can’t touch that, ’cause you must have lost yours”. Jokes have to have a kernel of truth in them, or, not funny. Goes to curiosity and sense of “self”. The “genitals” incident could be inappropriate, but normal, or deeply disturbing. Context is needed to figure out where on that spectrum.
If bullying is involved, and it well may be, that’s not typical of the age group. That usually shows up in pre-adolescence or adolescence. Suspect either a deeply disturbed child, and/or deeply disturbed parent(s)/home life if it is bullying @ 6 years old. My neighborhood experience was with a bully, a kid who had a very dysfunctional (yeah, I know wdf1, who am I to define dysfunctional?) family life, and who may have had other MH issues. That didn’t express itself until he was ~ 9, started slowly, then culminated in him threatening me with a screwdriver. He was bigger than me, and I was taught to turn the “other cheek”. But my own “MH issues” took over, and I “cleaned his clock”, as much as a 9 year old can with one punch. [My parents, finding out, urged me to find other solutions, but I was never “punished”, nor explicitly told I had acted wrongly.]
Am VERY concerned about the alleged responses to the parent’s concerns by DJUSD teacher(s), principal, admin staff (?), and Superintendent. Something smells.
“Alan, when I was in school I was called the “K” word for Jews.”
And I was called “Mill Dew Butt”.
Is that racial bias by the perp-child against my German family heritage?
Or should I have sprayed my ass with Lysol?
I find your answer troubling.
“I find your answer troubling.”
I find it troubling that you find my answer troubling.
Well if there are racial issues lets just make sure we don’t go “publicly flogging” anyone for it. hehe.
haven’t seen anyone flogged yet on this issue.
“hehe”
me either, other than vanguard readers who dont go along with “teachable moments.”
“teachable moments”? For whom? DJUSD staff? If you mean, the kids, why aren’t the ‘adults’ in the room teaching?
Methinks thy Lady was being facetious.
I think you make a good point, hpierce.
How would you like to be the child’s teacher or principal at Montgomery Elementary when her mother stated at a televised public city council meeting that “She has also been treated differently by her teachers and her principal.” Talk about a kick in the throat.
Trust me, I am not surprised by this mother’s complaint. Happened to my kids. If a parent of an obnoxious bullying kid is very vocal or well connected, the DJUSD doesn’t want to deal with the bullying, and will actually tell the victim of the bullying that if s/he doesn’t stop complaining, the victim will get suspended! You just would not believe some of the crap that goes on in our schools!
My experience with the district is that they do want to deal with the bullying issue, they have implemented a lot of policies to better deal with such issues, but it seems slow to implement from central office to site level.
Policies aren’t worth the paper they are written on if they are not carried out at the site level in a meaningful and reasonable manner. In fact, I would argue it is nothing but “papering over” the problem, literally!
My experience is that institutional change happens slowly and therefore I would suggest that given time this will make a difference. I am not suggesting that the problem is solved.
We don’t know all of the facts yet, but it seems like the situation was not handled properly. Hopefully that can be rectified.
Ya think?
That was in response to BP.
Hell, happens to City staff on a recurring basis, whether factual or not. But the City staff is told to “suck it up”. Perhaps the teacher, and Principal should do the same, if it is not factual. If it is factual, “fair hit”, if they failed to appropriately respond to the concerns she supposedly brought to them.
DJUSD would like to think “bullying” is a “complicated” issue, that there are two sides to every story. For instance, if a bully baits a victim into reacting, both students are suspended for fighting. What the DJUSD doesn’t realize is that “baiting” becomes a bully’s game, to see how many victims the bully can get in trouble. The bully starts beating a victim to a pulp, then because the victim fought back and gave the bully a tiny scratch, both are found guilty of fighting without due process. If the bully stalks the victim on the way home from school and destroys the victims property or assaults the victim, it is no longer the school’s problem, even though the bullying started on school property. If the bully destroys the victim’s property on school grounds, it might have just been an “accident” and the parent of the victim can just “buy another one”. The DJUSD is either horribly naive, duplicitous in not wanting to involve themselves in the difficulties in getting to underlying bullying problems, or siding with bullies because of who their parents are, or all of the above. Whatever the reason, the bullying issue at DJUSD does not appear to be resolved in any way, shape or form.
Sorry if my commentary is a bit “edgy”, but my three kids went through pure hell at DJUSD schools, and I was very skeptical that things had changed for the better. Commenters constantly insisted that was in the “old days” and refused to believe this nonsense is still going on. Basic human nature is what it is, and school administrators are not always known for their “courage” to right wrongs, but often take the path of least resistance. Unless and until the DJUSD takes the bullying issue seriously at every site level, nothing will change.
How long ago were your kids in the schools?
This sounds like pure zero-tolerance crap. Bullying sounds similar to how it was a half-century ago. The only difference is that everyone agreed who the bully was: common sense. Now, anyone who throws a punch or defends themselves is a perp.
Personally, I have zero-tolerance for zero-tolerance.
But it is the way of the country in the 21st Century.
I’m not sure that’s really true, but if we take bullying more seriously than we once did, perhaps it is because we have seen the consequences for the failure to take it more seriously in the past.
I’m not sure what you mean by “taking it more seriously”. It is certainly an issue that is talked about more. However, from the experiences of the mother, and of A-Non, it sounds as it it may be talked about more (overall), and handled much worse (overall).
clearly taking it more seriously is not a synonym to resolving it effectively
If you are talking about kids 6 to 9 years old, this conversation is wasted on them. They have no cognitive ability at these ages to comprehend anything but rote learning, and a swift reprimand for acts unbecoming.
Anon
“Commenters constantly insisted that was in the “old days” and refused to believe this nonsense is still going on”
I can tell you that as recently as 5 years ago, there was bullying that went unchecked in this school district from personal experience, although nothing as severe as what your kids seem to have gone through. It is interesting to me that there seems to be a strong desire to pretend that these types of physical and emotional violence ( whether centered around racism or not) are things of the past. How much more comfortable to pretend that we do not have problems with bullying, or with racism than it is to confront the issues as they occur.
I think changing classrooms or even changing schools would be the best solution here at this point and have the child and her mother start again somewhere else. For her to take her complaints to such a public venue – streamed live to households in Davis – she has clearly lost all trust that this will be resolved at the school site or within the District. People will want to try to resolve it at Margarete Montgomery, but I would urge her to switch schools – to any school. The bridges have been burned at Montgomery.
I know that the parent believes that the bullying is racially motivated, but “teasing about hair” is too vague of an accusation to be taken seriously. Her child identifying herself ethnically in ways that her parent did not teach her is another accusation that would be difficult to correct, since the bias against dark skinned people is so woven deeply into our society and could be explained away as normal child development around awareness of self. It is clear that her child is having difficulty with one boy in particular. Some kind of age appropriate restorative justice could be done, but the teachers and administrators would have had to first recognize that the problem is real.
This story will soon be followed by Attorney General Eric Holder’s investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. There is a claim that police officers joked or tried to write more tickets for African American citizens. We will see what details and evidence comes forth.
What was also referred to was one tasteless / racist joke made via email in 2008 by someone in the police department. In an odd way, if they had to go back to 20008 to find a racist joke about our President, some might consider that a sign that we’ve come a long, long way.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/04/wonkbook-federal-probe-uncovers-a-racist-joke-about-obama-in-official-ferguson-email/
TBD, at least the DOJ had access to all the Ferguson Police Dept. emails. If it was the IRS or Hillary’s personal email (cough, cough) they would’ve only received the ones that were screened.
TBD
So I guess from your post that you are ok with depictions of the President as a chimpanzee, or pictures of bare breasted African women labelled as Michelle Obama’s graduating class since they were in 2008. No disrespect intended of course. We were just joking ! I am sure that over the past 7 years we have completely done away with this kind of frankly racist and completely disgusting behavior.
Really ?
I was never fond of the constant pictures of George Bush as a chimpanzee, especially since he had a higher GPA than Warmist Al Gore, but I lived with them.
I can’t recall seeing similar pictures about President Obama, though I do get a number of cartoons where he has giant ears or such in the realm of cartoon art. I think those are fair game. I’ve never seen pictures of bare breasted African women (were they hot?) outside of National Geographic, I wonder where you saw these? What is your source?
Thankfully, I see very little that has been truly offensive towards the president and his family. He skated his first 2-4 years, getting a Nobel Prize for achieving nothing. He got a record stimulus package, a mammoth new social program, he starts is official day at 11 AM, and he doesn’t even read his daily intelligence briefings. The Life of Riley.
TBD
NPR report. And I have seen pics that I feel go beyond “cartoon art”. For others, just Google “Obama racist memes”. Not hard to find. I also did not approve of some of the representations of President Bush, but I feel that many of these go far beyond those….for example check out “a Muslim kissing a pig” and tell me that it is not beyond what the Bushes had to endure.
With a nation at over 300 Million and a planet with billions, I’m sure a google search will reveal disgusting images. Same with Dick Cheney. But to be honest, in the normal, random websites and email jokes I get, images of the president have been rather normal or even tame over the 6-year period. It was Camelot for at least 2 years, he walked on water and the press gave him a free path for at least 4 years. It wasn’t until the recent electoral losses that insiders came out referring to our President as “feckless” and such.
I’ve flagged a few images myself, but given his coziness to Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Sharpton, Jeramiah Wright, Bill Ayers, wise man and mentor Franklin Marshall Davis, and others, and his wanton youth, it opens him up to legitimate spoofing. The press was also fascinated with Bush’s relationship with Condi Rice.
“bullying” usually is a sign of low self-esteem, needing to be “in control”/exerting power. Somewhat similar to what I understand another behavior is. As I understand it, rape is not really about sex. There are definite differences, but there are similarities, as well.
As to bullying, there are two kinds, as I see it… the majority of it is, the low self-esteem, being victims of home-life bullying, and/or sociopathic personalities.
Excepting the serious mental disturbances, the only ways I have found to be effective in stopping bullying, is very confrontational response. If the victim (or its surrogates) “stands up” to the bully, it very well can stop. If no other way making the bully understand you are prepared to ‘call, and raise’. In the case of a child under, say 11, the parents of the victim need to be the surrogate and confront the bully’s parents. The “touchy-feely” ‘do you understand how the other feels when you do this’, just doesn’t work. Someone mentioned the “nuclear option”. “outing” the child and parents publicly. That can work. Having the victim “change schools” validates the bully’s behavior. Making the bully change schools, or leave the school system entirely, is more “just” and more likely to affect the bully’s behavior. Otherwise, the bully just moves on with a new victim.
I recall vividly a “bully” who was a supposed friend of mine who decided I could be bullied. I was maybe 11 or 12, we were friends for 3 years, and others witnessed the behavior and were starting to chime in with little jabs or taunts.
I finally stood my ground, he shoved, I shoved, he punched, I punched. He was surprised. He punched once more, and I unleashed a barrage of punches, jabs, and wild swings, many didn’t connect. He melted right there, and it stopped. The jabs from him and others stopped immediately.
Reading these posts decades later I now realize that maybe this a case of racism as my friend was black, and so were some of the other potential “joiners”.
If this happened on school grounds today, both of you would have been suspended, even if one started it and the other was only defending himself/herself. So then it becomes a game to the bully – let’s see if we can get the victim in trouble, because I don’t care if I am suspended – it’s a day off from school. And so the victimization ratchets up. This happened to one of my children, and escalated to the point where a gang of kids followed my teenager home after school; assaulted my child. Two of the perpetrators ended up in jail – they had beaten a drunk college student within an inch of his life a few days prior. I guess I should have been grateful my child escaped with only minor injuries.
I have heard several stories that back in the 50s and 60s, on occasion, if a child was picked on, a male teacher would take them to the gym, strap on gloves, and supervise a one-on-one bout. The teacher was often trained in the Golden Gloves program. The bully often wasn’t so tough in a fair fight, it was one to one, and they reportedly would “shake hands” and there was some kind of strong admonition to not repeat the behavior. There could be more, but this is what I recall hearing, teachers seemed to think it was effective.
Older bullies were often referred to the military for enlistment.
Sounds like what your child dealt with were not bullies, but sociopaths. Big difference. I confronted bullies. Don’t think I’d try those strategies if I thought sociopath. Six -8 year old sociopaths are extremely rare. They were also exhibiting “pack” behavior. I’ve taken on bullies, and won, but never was stupid enough to take on a “pack”. Running like hell was my strategy then. As seen in the movies, “a man’s got to know his limitations”.
Some of the bullying took place right in front of the teacher, who stood there and did nothing. Sheeeeeeesh. So much of this could be stopped right in its tracks if teachers and administrators were committed to stopping bullying. But unfortunately they don’t want to take the trouble to investigate – they would much prefer not to “get into it” and just punish both. It is easier than taking the trouble to find out who might have been in the wrong.
“Recently, just attending Davis School District, she has learned to identify herself in ways of her ethnicity, which I didn’t teach her,” said the mother. “I was pretty surprised by some of the things she was saying.”
Just to be clear, surely 6-year old children are not being taught in the classroom by any teachers about racial issues, or to identify themselves by race?
Which brings up the delicate issue of just what age is it appropriate to bring up issues of race into the classroom (my personal stance on this is high school; introduced first in world history classes to show that racial issues have not been unique to any one nation, culture, or race;, and then in american history classes–and at no point should students be indoctrinated to identify themselves by their race; we can leave that to the politicos, activists, university social studies and polysci teachers, media, etc that they will be exposed to increasingly after high school age).
“Just to be clear, surely 6-year old children are not being taught in the classroom by any teachers about racial issues, or to identify themselves by race?”
I did not see this as the implication. But I see little to stop a child who has been raised to hold racist beliefs in the home from sharing their belief in labeling with their peers who then may mimic these behaviors, either innocently or not.
Huh? I can’t recall a 6-year-old holding “racist beliefs”, this makes no sense. We can only assume what the “labeling” was. If she is the only African American student in a class, it could be that children innocently said “you’re black” or such.
I did volunteer in an inner city school where there were few white students. One of the African American girls would point at other black schoolmates and exclaim, “You’re blacker than me. You’re BLACKER!” I asked, “Where did this come from?” She apparently lived in one of the worst projects and picked it up there. It was also interesting that she actually had the darkest complexion, so she may have been repeating taunts she heard in the projects.