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| Lower Middle School. |
DEARBORN – Earlier this month, an online article posted by The Arab American News featured local parents who expressed their concerns on alleged bullying behavior targeting their 13-year-old daughter at Lowrey Middle School.
Layla Jouheir, the 7th grade student at Lowrey, suffers from a hearing disability. She wears a hearing aid in both ears and receives assistance from the school’s special education department.
According to her parents, she felt out of place amongst her peers. They discussed instances in the article where Jouheir was subjected to alleged bullying by her classmates, expressing their frustration at the school faculty.
The reaction to the story was overwhelming for all parties involved. The following day, concerned parents flooded the school office with phone calls.
The Arab American News received significant feedback about the article as well; a local organization commended us for showcasing insensitivity toward the disabled. Former students at Dearborn Public Schools also came out of the woodwork to share their similar experiences of being bullied when they were younger.
But the most overwhelming feedback was for Jouheir herself. Within minutes after the article was posted, her parents showed her the inspirational comments readers were leaving behind.
In the days that followed, she returned to school where students welcomed her with open arms. On social media, where she had been a target of bullying in the past, students created a TeamLayla hashtag for her.
Parents and students from across the district reached out to the family for support. Jouheir’s parents told The Arab American News that the article lifted her spirits and made a tremendous impact on her social life. Numerous residents also contacted the family to commend them for sharing their story.
Lowrey Middle School faculty meanwhile claimed that the article painted a negative and misleading picture about the school, arguing they were not given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. Calls were made to the office prior to article being posted online, but they were not returned.
Shortly after the article was posted, The Arab American News met with the Dearborn Public Schools’ Superintendent office and Lowrey Middle School faculty to address concerns of bullying after Jouheir’s story generated immense reactions.
In attendance at the meeting was Superintendent Brian Whiston, Communications Director David Mustonen, Associate Superintendent Gail Shenkman, Lowrey Middle School Principal Rima Younes, Assistant Principal Mike Esseily, Lowrey School Social Worker Lisa Cunningham Special Education Teacher Ghunwa Charafeddine and Lowrey School Counselor Hassan Dakroub.
For legal reasons, the district and the school was unable to issue public comments about Jouheir’s claims. However, they did disclose information on the school’s pro-active measures to combat bullying and debunked claims that students with special needs were being mistreated by other students.
According to Principal Younes, students and teachers can report bullying anonymously at the SAFE tip box or on the school website. Teachers are also provided with an anti-bullying tool kit and are given instructions on activities to engage the classroom in.
The district noted that all faculty–from teachers, to custodians, to bus drivers — are trained to properly handle and report bullying. The faculty also holds after school assemblies to educate students about bullying frequently.
Among the measures implemented at the school includes an anti-bullying pledge, where students are taught to respect each other and report bullying if they witness it. Younes said that students have developed friendships as a result of how the faculty has responded to conflicts.
“We have a great support team. Every one of us takes bullying very seriously,” Younes said. “Our objective isn’t to suspend a child. We try to build relationships between the two. We try to build the empathy, so that we nip it in the bud. Even if it’s not a bullying situation—maybe it’s a conflict of interest–we have them sit together during lunch and we meet with the students after school.”
Both the district and the school are aware that their program isn’t “bullet proof” as bullying behavior may be unpredictable or might go by unreported.
There are some instances where a bullying occurrence will be out of the school’s control. An example of that would be if friends were to place a birthday card on a student’s locker, it would become difficult for faculty to monitor what is written on it.
That appeared to be the case with Jouheir during her birthday this year. Her mother had left her a birthday card on her locker for teachers and friends to sign. However, some students scribbled on it and left her derogatory remarks, hurting her feelings in the process.
According to the school, placing a birthday card on a student’s locker is not an activity the faculty encourages. Still, Jouheir’s mother believed that because other students received warm birthday wishes from their peers, her daughter should’ve been entitled to it as well.
In recent years, social media has prevailed as a common method for students to bully each other after school. The district noted that it is required to step in when social media bullying impacts students during school hours.
“The position we have taken is that if we think it’s impacting the school day, then we do intervene,” said Whiston. “We call parents and ask them to take things down. From a strict legal point of view, the courts have said that this doesn’t happen during school. But if we think it is going to impact us, we will take action.”
The school noted that it takes several approaches to work with parents, however not all of them are going to be appeased.
If a parent has an issue with another student, the faculty will look into the issue but might not be able to disclose further information about another student. Younes said that in most cases, parents will walk away satisfied with how the school handled their child’s situation.
“If they walk out unhappy it’s because they might emphasize more on the other student,” Younes said. “We can’t disclose such information and can’t share information about anybody. They might inflict their believes on how to handle a situation. But we have to look at it realistically and explain the precautions that comes with that.”
Because Lowrey houses Kindergarten – 8th grade students, it is one of two schools in the district where students can attend the school for up to ten years. Faculty noted that they begin to implement respect, integrity and sensitivity with their students at a very young age, so that it is embedded into their daily life by the time they enter Middle School.
Whiston said year-after-year Lowrey is always either the number one or the number two most requested school by parents for preferred choice.
Faculty have students engaged in charitable events year round. In September students raised $700 for “Walk for Humanity,” in October they participated in “Cancer Awarness Month” and raised another $500, in November they contributed to “Olive Garden’s Pasta for Pennies” program with $1,000 in donations.
In December students brought in over 5,000 canned items for a food drive. In January they raised another $1,000 for “Hats for Hunger.” In the previous two months, students raised $500 for the “Penrickton Center for the Blind” and another $500 for “Autism Awareness Month.”
The school noted that its general student population is very sensitive and welcoming to students who attend the school for their special education needs. Principal Younes said she’s never seen or heard of a student mistreat another student with a disability.
“I’ve never seen that issue in my building. I see empathy and kindness and I see them reaching out and helping,” Younes said. “Other guests who come into my building comment on that often. [Special education students] mingle with the other middle school students. They go out of their way to help. It’s a part of our culture there. The awareness is just really there.”
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