By Marlene Mendez

Recently many schools throughout our country have been focusing on bullying. Many school districts have been struggling with the problem of how to deal with this serious act, before students get hurt.

At PHS, bullying is also an area of concern for students, teachers and administrators. However, from the students’ perspective this really is not a serious issue. The acts of bullying at this school are rare. The movies and other popular media make school seem like a horrible place where students try to hurt each other, teachers do not care about their students, and administrators just do not care about what is happening in their school. The reality at PHS is actually quite different.

When asked, students do not give bullying much thought. The typical expectations of PHS students are just like those of any typical high school. They want to get good grades, graduate, and make something of themselves. However, they do not worry about getting bullied. Certainly, there are incidents in school that lead to students getting in trouble, and maybe even suspended.

However, the general feeling from the student body is that they are working together and not against each other. Everyone wants to succeed, and success comes from personal student effort.

Senior, Jonathan Toxtli commented, “From personal experience, in the years that I’ve attended this school, I haven’t seen any actions of bullying.”

He added, “There have been arguments or as I call them ‘attention seekers,’ but nothing serious.”

One of the reasons why there is not much bullying is because there are strict rules and they are enforced. The students know that acts of violence lead to major consequences and would rather avoid it. Who would risk getting in serious trouble with the school and even the law, just to make someone else feel bad. The students know in advance that bullying will not be tolerated and so they do not bully.

Just because there are rules, there is no guarantee that students will follow them. However in this school we have security guards at all times and also SRO’s (School Resource Officers) who are actually city police officers, here to help ensure the safety of all students.

While many students might not to hear guards and officers telling them to get to class and to have the proper uniform on, no headphones, no hoodies, and no cell phones, they are here to ensure safety as well as enforce the basic rules. They certainly have had a positive effect on the students, knowing that they are free from bullying.

Although there is always going to be some mishaps here and there, the situation at PHS is good, and hopefully it will stay that way. A better social environment will definitely help the success of our school’s mission and vision.