Where are the parents on this?

Two girls post a cartoon video on YouTube that depict “The Top 6 ways to Kill Piper!” Piper is an elementary school classmate of theirs at Elk Plain School in Spanaway, Washington.

The police decline to file charges, saying that “We just don’t believe it was done with any malice or hate.” The girls who made the video apparently are remorseful, although it’s unclear whether that is because they a) now realize how hurtful it was to Piper, b) have been exposed to the larger ramifications of what they did, or c) got caught. Piper and her mother are understandably upset.

And the parents of the two girls? Well, one of the fathers was apparently too busy “cooking dinner” to talk to Piper’s mother about the incident. And, of course, the girls were able to spend hours making the video at home without anyone noticing and/or objecting. Nice parenting…

Comments

[Sue King]

1.

I think this story is an example of the difficulty we face in schools. What experiences have people had that have gotten them to the point that they parent in such a way that makes these girls' actions acceptable? How can we possibly come up with a way to excuse this? Do we need to involve the police? NO!!!! We need to create agreements that NO ONE will treat others with such meanness and disregard!! But - look at our society - our media/entertainment. There are way too many examples of treating people badly being "entertaining." Not sure how much more has to happen before we wake up. Let's make our schools places that are safe for everyone; where everyone gets the message every day that they are of value, that they matter - AND that they will be held to standards for treating others kindly! You do not create that by saying - and if you do not - Zero Tolerance - we will call the police and file charges. Accountability does not have to equate to punishment.

[Lesley]

2.

That is absolutely out of hand. As a parent of an upcoming Kindergarten- I am scared. What can I do as a parent? Right now- I am planning to run internet safety/cyber bullying sessions for the PTA at my son's school but not sure what I would say to my kid if they were the victim. Thank you for putting the blame on the parents here- I also think the school should make the consequences for the bullies significant and very public to hopefully discourage future instances. Too sad.

[Mister Teacher]

3.

This is almost unbelievable. And yet we know it's true. Sad, just sad.

[Heidi Hass Gable]

4.

I agree with the other commentors here - absolutely unbelievable!

Something I've been thinking about and exploring lately is the integration of technology - not only in classrooms but in parenting.

Too often, parents are taking the easy way out by saying "I don't know anything about computers" and avoiding the conversation completely.

And we tend to encourage that by treating it as a separate topic of discussion - like hosting "cybersafety" talks.

I think that, just like we talk about integrating tech in classrooms as just another tool for learning, we also need to approach digital citizenship conversations as part of our larger conversations about citizenship in general.

For example, when I'm teaching my child about morality and integrity, when I'm saying "this is a lie and this is how it hurts people", I also have to say "Is creating a fake Facebook page a lie? Could it hurt someone as well?"

It's part of the same conversation and it needs to be linked - for us as parents and for our children! We can't ignore it, it's not going to go away, and claiming ignorance isn't an acceptable approach!

Although I DO NOT believe it's the school's responsiblity to teach this alone, I do think that's often where this discussion will be modeled - in order to increase parent awareness of its importance. Educators are talking about it a lot more than parents are, in my experience.

Thank you for continuing to push this conversation - it's an important one!