Fifteen-year-old Jessica Barba has been suspended from school for what school administrators say was creating "a substantial disruption to the school." What did Jessica do wrong? For an assignment in her business communications class at Longwood High School in New York, Jessica created a video about bullying. She played a character in the six minute video who was bullied, got really depressed, and at the end takes her own life. Jessica posted the video online, and the next day at school she says her peers were already talking about it.
Clearly, even though she included statements that the story was fictitious, school superintendent Allan Gerstenlauer says it caused a serious disruption and even caused one partent to contact police in fear that a child had actually hurt themselves.
What do we know? We know that 1 in 4 college students have reported being bullied. We know that bullying is repeated agressive and intimidating behavior that leads children and young teens to be depressed, and in some severe cases, take their own lives.
The sad truth is that suicide is a leading cause of death for children and teenagers. One third of all suicides among young adults age 15-24 can be linked to bullying.
Jessica says she gave up the password to her online video to an assistant principal in the hopes of negotiating a shorter punishment, but national media, including credible sources like NBC, is reporting that Jessica is suspended for five days pending a school hearing.
Do you agree or disagree with Jessica's video? Do you think it had a place online, or even a place in her school, and was it appropriate for a school assignment?
Millions of kids are impacted by bullying at school, and many of them are taking a stand and doing things to get the attention of school administrators. To learn more about bullying and what you can do to keep kids happy and safe in your community keep ready my blog.
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