Some Latino parents and immigrant families say their children face bullying in the Stamford school system.
Orfa Palma, a recent immigrant from Guatemala, says her 12-year-old daughter began middle school in late March, but the initial excitement quickly turned into dread.
"Kids began to bully her because she is chubby,” Palma said. “I went to the administrators to complain, but they [did not] do anything to solve the issue. Then, one day on the school bus, a boy threw a bag of detergent-like substance at my daughter, It was all over her body.”
She says she complained to the school but “they never paid attention."
Palma said the situation has taken a severe emotional toll on her daughter.
"My daughter thinks that the school made her feel like she was the one to blame,” Palma said. “Now she thinks [she’s being discriminated against] because she’s not American or because she’s chubby.”
Maria García, a U.S. citizen of Guatemalan heritage, says she pulled her daughter out of the same Stamford middle school after she experienced issues, too.
"She called me [from school], and she was like, ‘Mom, just listen to this.’ And this little girl was banging on the door," García said. "She was telling my daughter to ‘come out, I’m gonna beat you up, come out here.’ I dropped what I was doing. I went to the school. And what did they do? They were like, ‘Oh, it was a minor incident.’”
García says she received no substantial response from school administrators despite raising concerns.
She said she’s heard kids use derogatory words and racial slurs like “wetback” to describe kids whose families come from Mexico and Guatemala.
"I feel like it has to do definitely with discrimination, how much money you make, and where do you come from,” García said.
Surveys nationwide show that bullying has been increasing in recent years in schools across the U.S.
Stamford officials acknowledge there are challenges with bullying in Stamford schools. The school system takes bullying seriously, said Juan Pazmino, coordinator of the Office of Family and Community Engagement for Stamford Public Schools.
Most cases of bullying are resolved positively, he said.
"As soon as we hear that there’s a bully situation, we do an investigation,” he said.
More than half of Stamford students speak Spanish, a significant increase in recent years, Pazmino said. And several students come from immigrant families who have moved from Central and South American countries.
“Just going through this is a lot and especially with the new families coming in,” he said. “This is not the way that we want to welcome the kids.”
Palma and García say changes should be made in Stamford Public Schools. They say that as the Latino community grows, so must efforts to ensure children feel safe and valued.
"We need more substantial efforts to bring the community together and provide real support," Palma said.
Pazmino says the district has implemented one parent facilitator in each of its 21 schools to bridge the communication gap between school staff and parents who don’t speak English.
Additionally, the district employs translators at meetings and uses automatic translation devices for presentations. In addition, there are bilingual social workers.
"We usually are taking notes of all these concerns. We work in communication with the superintendent, and we try to address those concerns,” Pazmino said.
