Bystander Intervention
The Shackles to Inaction
Passivity, Especially by Our Leaders, Is a Monumental Social
Influence
That Dangerously Confuses & Thus
Inhibits Others from Responding Appropriately
By Luis Angel Perez
Is the passivity demonstrated here by
leaders of our country indicative of a social phenomenon Social Psychologist
have coined pluralistic ignorance;
where people with a grand opportunity to help in an emergency situation are
inhibited from intervening by the mere assumption that the crisis must not be
so critical because other people (leaders) that are also aware of the crisis have
not yet intervened?
Perhaps, the passivity demonstrated
here is indicative of another social phenomenon Social Psychologists have
coined diffusion of responsibility;
where people (leaders) are inhibited from intervening in an emergency situation
by the mere assumption that the crisis will surely be properly handled by other
authority figures that were also notified?
Whatever form of shallow processing one
prefers to hide behind, the apparent passivity demonstrated here is a
monumental social influence that dangerously confuses and thus inhibits others
from responding appropriately. Such passivity is directly responsible for
fueling toxic conformity which forces “good” people to become accomplices to
social crimes committed in the workplace and for fueling supremacy in abuse of
power and disregard to the rule of law.
Are these the lessons
we want to teach our children?
Are these the lessons
we want to teach our fellow humans?
The following depicts only some of the notifications made to some Public
Officials
Monday, February 24, 2014, as a Public
School Educator, I notified both Mayor Bill de Blasio and School Chancellor
Carmen Fariña about the urgency of openly and candidly addressing the rampant
abuse of power in our schools and pleaded for them to help me improve our schools
by openly discussing this highly toxic condition and merely creating
transparent and full-proof plans of correction.
Monday, February 24, 2014, I received
an automatic generic acknowledgment reply from the City of New York, (reply@customerservice.nyc.gov).
This automatic reply thanked me for contacting the City of New York, informed
me that my message has been forwarded to the appropriate agency for review and
handling, provided me with the following service request number #
1-1-942038668, and requested that I do not reply to their message.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/),
here, Mayor Bill de Blasio, School Chancellor Carmen Fariña, or any other Government
Official charged with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest
of children, (b) modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human
and constitutional laws, never responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless
of my First Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
Sunday, September 14, 2014, as a Public
School Educator, I wrote and emailed a detailed letter to the Honorable
President Barack Obama and the First Family (http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact) regarding the toxic immoral and unethical business
practices in our school system, which directly contribute to a hostile work
environment and poor mental health. I titled this letter, Please Help Us
Create a Better Tomorrow By Merely Enforcing Oversight and Accountability
Toward What Administrators Are Getting Away With Within Our Children’s New York
Public Schools.
Immediately, I received an automatic generic
reply from The Office of Presidential Correspondence which thanked me for
contacting the White House, mentioned that the President is committed to creating
the most open and accessible Administration in history which begins with taking
comments and questions through their website, and mentioned that they receive
thousands of messages from Americans each day and that they do their best to
reply to as many as they can.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/), here, not a single actual Government Official charged
with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest of children, (b)
modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional
laws, ever responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless of my First
Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014, as a
Public School Educator, I wrote a detailed letter to the Honorable President
Obama and the First Family. I sent this letter through the United States Postal
Service and paid $21.25 for Priority Mail Express 1-Day. According to the United
States Postal Service (USPS) Tracking System, the letter was not delivered to Washington, DC
until September 22, 2014 (five days late).
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/),
here, no actual Government Official charged with, in good faith, (a) ensuring
the safety and best interest of children, (b) modeling ethical and moral
conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional laws, ever responded to my
complaints or pleas, regardless my First Amendment Constitutional Right to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Friday, September 19, 2014, I received
an automatic reply from White House Secretary of the Department of Education,
Arne Duncan, (info@mail.whitehouse.gov). The subject of the reply was “Meet Brittany”. It
was a generic tale of a lady from West
Georgia Technical
College whom Mr. Duncan met
during his Department of Education annual back-to-school bus tour and whom he
found to be inspiring. This story had nothing to do with my reason for
contacting the White House, any of my complaints, or any of my pleas. At the
end of the letter White House Secretary of the Department of Education, Arne
Duncan closes by writing, “Thanks for sharing”.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/), here, not a single actual Government Official charged
with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest of children, (b)
modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional
laws, ever responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless of my First
Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Saturday, December 27, 2014, as a
Public School Educator, I wrote and posted on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s facebook
page a letter of support for the difficult time he must have been experiencing
while facing the toxic tensions brewing
and crimes committed between Police Officers and the Public and how
difficult it must have been to experience a great amount of Police Officers,
from the New York City Police Department, literally turn their backs toward him,
as the Mayor of New York City, as he attended funeral services in respect to
the brave beautiful souls whom, unfortunately, have gotten caught in the
cross-fire of a Seriously Volatile Public Crisis which only seems to exist
many miles away from our policy and law makers, whom for so long have neglected
to effectively address.
In this letter I discussed the toxic abuse
of power that is overtly rampant within our Public Schools and perpetuated by
Officers of the Department of Education (aka Board of Education).
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/),
here, no actual Government Official charged with, in good faith, (a) ensuring
the safety and best interest of children, (b) modeling ethical and moral
conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional laws, ever responded to my
complaints or pleas, regardless of my First Amendment Constitutional Right to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Monday, February 02, 2015, as a Public
School Educator, I wrote and emailed a letter expressing my concerns to School
Chancellor Carmen Fariña, NYCChancellor@schools.nyc.gov.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/), here, not a single actual Government Official charged
with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest of children, (b)
modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional
laws, ever responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless of my First
Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Monday, February 02, 2015, as a Public
School Educator, I, again, attempted to contact Mayor Bill de Blasio. I
received an automatic generic reply from the City of New York (reply@customerservice.nyc.gov).
This automatic reply thanked me for contacting the City of New York, informed
me that my message has been forwarded to the appropriate agency for review and
handling, provided me with another service request number (# 1-1-1062818665),
and requested that I do not reply to their message.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/),
here, no actual Government Official charged with, in good faith, (a) ensuring
the safety and best interest of children, (b) modeling ethical and moral
conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional laws, ever responded to my
complaints or pleas, regardless of my First Amendment Constitutional Right to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Friday, February 13, 2015, as a Public
School Educator, I wrote and emailed a letter to Chancellor Carmen Fariña, NYCChancellor@schools.nyc.gov District Six (6) Superintendent Manuel Ramirez, United
Federation of Teachers (UFT) District Representative Mayra Cruz, and UFT Borough
Representative Evelyn de Jesus, regarding the incessant abuse of power in our
schools. This letter was titled, For The Sake of the Children.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/), here, not a single actual Government Official charged
with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest of children, (b)
modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional
laws, ever genuinely responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless of my First
Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Saturday, February 14, 2015, as a
Public School Educator, I wrote and emailed a letter to Chancellor Carmen
Fariña, District Six (6) Superintendent Manuel Ramirez, United Federation of
Teachers (UFT) District Representative Mayra Cruz, and UFT Borough
Representative Evelyn de Jesus, regarding the incessant abuse of power in our
schools. This letter was titled, For The Sake of the Children of The Amistad
Dual Language School.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/),
here, no actual Government Official charged with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the
safety and best interest of children, (b) modeling ethical and moral conduct,
and (c) upholding human and constitutional laws, ever responded to my
complaints or pleas, regardless of my First Amendment Constitutional Right to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Sunday, February 15, 2015, as a Public
School Educator, I sent a letter via email to New York State Senator Adriano
Espaillat titled, Abuse: Connecting The Dots of Leadership. I received
an automatic generic reply from him (espailla@nysenate.gov) thanking me for taking the time to email him and
mentioned that my comments and suggestions are important to him and an
important part of the legislative process.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/), here, not a single actual Government Official charged
with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest of children, (b)
modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional
laws, ever genuinely responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless of my
First Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances.
Sunday, February 15, 2015, as a Public
School Educator, I sent a letter via email to Assemblyman Guillermo Linares titled,
Abuse: Connecting The Dots of Leadership.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and legal
infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/),
here, no actual Government Official charged with, in good faith, (a) ensuring
the safety and best interest of children, (b) modeling ethical and moral
conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional laws, ever responded to my
complaints or pleas, regardless of my First Amendment Constitutional Right to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Sunday, February 15, 2015, as a Public School Educator, I sent a letter
via email to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo titled, Connecting The Dots of
Leadership. I received an automatic generic reply from the Governor, (Governor.Cuomo@exec.ny.gov), thanking me for reaching out to him, claiming that my
input is invaluable to their mission to create a government that works for its
people, and assuring me that my email will be read and shared with the
appropriate members of his staff.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/), here, not a single actual Government Official charged
with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest of children, (b)
modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional
laws, ever genuinely responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless of my
First Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances.
Saturday, February 28, 2015, as a
Public School Educator, I wrote and emailed to every single member of the
Department of Education Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) a letter titled, Rampant
Abuse of Power in Our Public Schools. I emailed this letter to the
following PEP members of the panel (or Pseudo-Board of Education Board Members):
1. Chancellor Carmen Fariña- NYCChancellor@schools.nyc.gov
2. Brooklyn Representative Fred
Baptiste- fbaptiste@schools.nyc.gov
3. Contracts Committee Member T.
Elzora Cleveland- ecleveland@schools.nyc.gov
4. Contracts Committee Member Deborah
Dillingham- ddillingham@schools.nyc.gov
5. Panel Member Norm Fruchter- nfruchter@schools.nyc.gov
6. Panel for Educational Policy
Chair Vanessa Leung- vleung@schools.nyc.gov
7. Staten
Island Representative Kamillah Payne-Hanks- kpaynehanks@schools.nyc.gov
8. Panel Member Lori Podvesker- lpodvesker@schools.nyc.gov
9. Contracts Committee Chair Robert
Powell- rpowell@schools.nyc.gov
10. Contracts Committee Member Isaac
Carmignani- icarmignani@schools.nyc.gov
11. Contracts Committee Member Roberto
Soto-Carrion- rsotocarrion@schools.nyc.gov
12. Manhattan Representative Laura
Zingmond- lzingmond@schools.nyc.gov
13. Panel Member D. Miguelina
Zorilla-Aristy- mzorillaaristy@schools.nyc.gov
Unfortunately, despite also providing
them all with a link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse
of power and legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/),
here, no actual Government Official charged with, in good faith, (a) ensuring
the safety and best interest of children, (b) modeling ethical and moral
conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional laws, ever responded to my
complaints or pleas, regardless of my First Amendment Constitutional Right to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Tuesday, March 03, 2015 I made a follow-up call
(212-264-0300)
to the United States of America National Labor Relations Board Regional Director
Karen P. Fernbach (http://www.nlrb.gov/what-we-do/investigate-charges
) regarding a letter I sent her with my
concerns.
Unfortunately, despite also providing a
link to my blog with more information about the rampant abuse of power and
legal infractions in our schools and practical solutions, (http://writing4light.blogspot.com/), here, not a single actual Government Official charged
with, in good faith, (a) ensuring the safety and best interest of children, (b)
modeling ethical and moral conduct, and (c) upholding human and constitutional
laws, ever directly responded to my complaints or pleas, regardless of my First
Amendment Constitutional Right to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Instead, an attorney by the name of Tom
stopped me short, over the phone, and reported that their organization has no
jurisdiction over any public companies. They only have jurisdiction over the
private sector.
Thursday, March 05, 2015, I wrote and
emailed a letter with my concerns to the Executive Director of the New York
Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Donna Lieberman. Executive Director Lieberman
responded by informing me that they have a television show titled Project
Liberty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXR51vZCfVY)
where they document how New York City students actually feel in our schools - like they are in prison, afraid and alone.
I was also informed that since 2010 the NYCLU has been challenging illegal
arrests and excessive force in our schools.
On behalf of many parents, children,
and educators, I wish to deliver an immense THANK YOU to Donna Lieberman and everyone
in the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), for facilitating the exposure
and much needed public scrutiny of this significant portion of the rampant abuse of power and related legal
infractions that exists in our public schools, for enforcing the safety and
best interest of our children, for being public role models of ethical and
moral conduct, for upholding human and constitutional laws, and for your
efforts in inspiring the public to believe that there is a light at the end of
the tunnel and it is not necessarily an in-coming train.
Please help Educators facilitate
high standards.
Thank you immensely for your time
and energy. Best wishes to all, always.
Sincerely,
Luis Angel Perez,
Middle School Science & Mathematics,
First Grade, Fourth Grade Educator & Advocate
