[BHS Etree] More Work to Do from Principal Scuderi

[BHS etree]

Dear BHS Families:

Thanks to those of you who are partnering with us to deter what we clearly consider hazing and bullying; namely, the throwing of eggs and general harassment of our newest students at BHS. 

While we are pleased with the overall tone and vibe of the opening week, there was an extremely small minority of students who disregarded our concern and threw eggs, or attempted to throw eggs at students. Those students will be suspended for the entire second week of school.

I write again, simply to impress upon our families and students how clear we want to be about this, and that our position and expectations regarding this type of behavior will carry forward as an expectation for every Friday and every school day throughout the year.

Given the context and some of the unsavory ritual hazing we are working to eliminate, students who are carrying eggs, driving on the perimeter with eggs, carrying eggs on campus, holding eggs for friends, etc, will all be subject to our five-day suspension policy. 

I can see why it may seem a bit absurd for me to be speaking so formally and authoritatively about eggs, but those folks who dismiss this as fun or simple adolescent antics ignore the possibility that what seems like harmless or silly actions to them can be very charged and emotional experiences for the kids on the receiving end of this behavior; experiences that could even be connected to previous incidents of physical or emotional abuse. 

If you want to discuss this further with your kids, something I'd appreciate, here is a link to a very brief but helpful article called, Yeah, but it wasn’t hazing!" Research-Based Insights on Why Students Underestimate Hazing by Allan and Madden.

In general, the week was very positive, and I want to thank you very much for working with us to continually improve school culture and campus climate.  

 ________________
Pat Anderson, Diane Douglas, Marguerite Fa-Kaji and Lisa Sibony are the parent-volunteer facilitators of the etree; please direct any questions to them at bhs-owner at lmi.net. 
BHS etree archives: http://lists.lmi.net/pipermail/bhs/; BHS PTSA website: http://www.bhs.berkeleypta.org/. To unsubscribe from the etree, send an email to bhs-request at lmi.net with one word only in the subject line: 'unsubscribe'.   To post a message, send to: bhs at lmi.net
 




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