[Ohana]

I was visiting my old middle school and saw two young girls walking (weekend not during school hours) the trek talking. I was walking my puppy and I couldn't help but talk to them. As a substitute, we're always warned by other subs to avoid middle school, even some elementary grades 4, 5.

I asked them if they were in middle school and if they attend(ed) that school. One did last and one currently attends - both sisters. I asked them whats it like, to which they paused. I told them, its okay, say whatever you want, be truthful. I didn't tell them I'm a sub or that I had attended the school just yet.

It was heart breaking to hear them tell me they've been basically bullied all their lives, that their generation is "messed up", that a lot of girls there are pregnant, have gangs and the cattiness of girls punching each other in the throat and no teacher/coach doing anything about it. They told me about how their little cousin plays Call of Duty (video game) and he's only 6-7. These kids 'get' it.

I may be wrong for doing this but I let them know that I used to attend the school, that I'm a sub and that basically the cattiness/bullying is on the professional adult level as well, just very subtle. We just smile and move on. Oh they were very surprised to learn this. Now, I would NOT share this kind of information as a middle school teacher/sub. I couldn't help but to feel sorry for them, although I don't think I could ever sub for middle...the school was bad when I was there, but not to the extent of having so many pregnant girls and gangs.

This caused me to reflect more to my mentality as a middle school student. Parents and Teachers were certainly not as big of a priority but to a certain extent I did want some teacher approval. It was still there, just like them.

Kids just want to know that you CARE.

[multigrade]

I'm glad you were able to talk to these girls. You may never know how you've helped them.
I considered being the science teacher for our middle grades, but thought better of it.

[TheTrunch]

These girl bullies start early. Some very early, but I think it's going strong by 5th grade. One problem is that some of these girls are so "undercover". They behave so sweetly to their teachers and are involved in activities. Meanwhile.... I just found out that local pastor that I adore has a middle school girl that is absolutely horrid. I'm sure her parents have no clue.

Middle Schools need to have easy online access to report bullying (with or without naming names). The Home Screen of school computers should have a link that can be used to report.

Oh, but we're too focused on Common Core to care about what's really important to human beings. *&%!!!)#

[Mshope]

I've taught middle school for most of my career. It is hectic and never dull. I LOVE the idea of the anonymous reporting system. However, since most of the bullying now occurs online and out of school, officials can't always do much about it. Parents of these bullies need to step up and figure out what their kids are doing on Instagram, Ask.fm, and Snapchat. From what I've seen it is very disturbing and this is only what kids have shown me. To me, it seems like 99% of kids are totally unsupervised online. Most of my students have cells and have their own virtual life by ages 12/13. They are probably smart enough to have fake accounts even for concerned parents who might check usage.

We do have trouble getting subs because our schedule is very tough and there is always "drama" going on. However, I feel that kids need direction, good role models, and almost a coach to say things like, "Be the better person", "Stay out of it", and other common sense advice. We have had ms girls get pregnant and there are rumors of gangs forming. We have no sex edu or police officer available. Also, we are down to one person in guidance. We could use a lot more but that was the first to go due to budget cuts. I don't know what the answer is but I always make time when students need to talk. It's true that some kids have no one to talk about or even care.

[Rockguykev]

What blows me away about this is how many teachers just put their head in the sand and say it isn't their problem. The prevailing thought seems to be that if isn't directly disrupting his/her class then it isn't his/her problem.

It makes me sick and makes my job 10 times harder. I still wouldn't give it up for the world though. I love this age group and somebody has to fight for them.

[Ohana]

http://www.westernjournalism.com/mid...-friends-life/

Middle Schooler suspended for saving friend's life.