Fewer than one in five city schools ’fessed up to even a single incident of bullying on a new tracking system run by the state — proof, advocates say, that Education Department officials and principals have failed to address a dangerous reality for many students.
The Dignity for All Students Act of 2010 required all city schools to report incidents of bullying to a public database, so that school leaders and education officials could better address the issue. But for the 2012-13 school year, the first year for which data was collected, a whopping 1,378 city schools reported zero incidents of bullying or harassment — including violence-plagued Intermediate School 117 in the Bronx, where police say Noel Estevez, an emotionally disturbed 14-year-old, fatally stabbed classmate Timothy Crump, 14, on Wednesday.
That’s nearly 80% of city schools that did not report a single incident of bullying or harassment. “They don’t take it seriously when parents come to administrators and teachers saying their child is being bullied,” said Mona Davids, president of the New York City Parents Union. “They’re not taking down the reports. They’re just not.”
Bullying in city schools has been a problem for years, but it turned deadly at I.S. 117 last week. Noel’s mother told the Daily News the victim was a young brute whose relentless bullying provoked her son. Maria Estevez said Noel’s father, Felix, spoke to the principal the night before the stabbing to complain about Noel being bullied by Crump, who had previously been suspended for punching another student in the jaw. Efforts to get a safety transfer for Noel failed.
80% of city schools report zero incidents of bullying, including Bronx middle school where student was stabbed to death
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