Over the Christmas break I received a letter from the Principal of Greencastle High School informing me that a physical education class that my child was attending had a student who had been bullied in several outrageous ways.

Let me immediate state that I am opposed to any form of bullying and was appalled at the description of what went on in the class. However, I was even more upset at how the school handled the situation.

Apparently the student did not complain of hazing but two other students told their parents who reported it to the school. Immediately, I think there are at least two witness to the events described in the letter. And, that these kids were obviously willing to discuss what they saw. And, the student himself could describe who and what happened to him. I know this because the class was told a police report was made by the boy's parents.

However, the school chose to bully and intimidate all the students in the class. They were and are (according to the letter we received) being encouraged to "narc" (the principal's word, not mine) on each other. They were berated for "not stepping up" to their actions. And, were informed because "no one did a thing" the principal was turning his information over to the police.

This was not directed at one, two or five kids who may have been involved but at the entire class.

When a first round of questioning and threats took place in the classroom and there was no response, a second session took place. The entire class was seated on the bleachers while the principal told the students they needed to come forward and admit what they did. He also demanded anyone who knew or saw anything report it. He coerced, he threatened police involvement and called all students, or most, down to the office and interviewed them (without parents or legal counsel present) one by one.

Since the letter, we have heard nothing else. Classes have resumed and there is a new group of kids in the class.

It's the job of parents, educators and psychologists to watch out for and anticipate dangerous behavior. It should rarely be a legal or law enforcement issue, and it ought never to be the job of kids, students or classmates. Please note, I used the term "rarely." Meaning there may be some occasions when physical danger is present or medical help is needed.

I happened to read an article in the "Los Angeles Times" recently about student informing and the impact it has on the school and the community. The article focused on the question: When a student helps a school investigates threats, who pays if the informant is sued?

The parents of a high school freshman in Lancaster, California, are facing $40,000 in legal bills because their kid did what school officials have been urging kids to do for years: tell school officials of something suspicious they overheard.

The girl quoted a classmate as saying: "We want to kill people; we're sick of them." She later reported that the boy threatened her for repeating his remarks. He was immediately charged with making terrorist threats and intimidating a witness, and a juvenile court judge ordered him to serve six months' probation.

But courts overturned his expulsion as unconstitutional and unjustified, and the boy and his parents then sued his accuser, her parents, school and Los Angeles county officials. The charges, said his suit, made him the object of ridicule, hatred and distrust.

A Superior Court Judge threw out his suit, but not before the girl's family spent $40,000 in legal fees defending her. The school, which asked her to inform, refused to represent her after she did. So now her parents are suing them to recoup their losses.

Definitions of dangerous behavior are wildly subjective and complex, and kids often had a tough time distinguishing between run-of-the-mill obnoxious and posturing behavior, and truly dangerous behavior worthy of being reported to the police. Trained psychologists disagree about symptoms and behavioral warning signs. The bottom line seems as clear as it was after Columbine. The message to kids isn't that schools are safer, but for everybody to watch not only what they say, but what they hear or see.

We try to teach our kids not to be bullies, and not to harm or harass other students, and the school system tries to enforce this ethic. Unfortunately, the sad fact is the schools use the same methods of bullying and intimidation to force students to tell on one another.

The school principal ended his letter stating, "Everything comes back to the issue of respect. Simply, whether young or old, we need to teach and show young people the importance of respecting another, regardless of color of skin, religious belief, small, large, male, female--just doing what is right! Hopefully, we all have learned a valuable lesson."

But who pays the legal bills when the school or the child's family is sued? And, what respect was shown to the majority of kids in the class who had nothing to do with this affair but were bullied and intimidated by school officials to "step up" and confess anything they saw or heard regarding their classmates?

There has to be a better way to teach respect and still protect kids from dangerous bullying than to adopt the same bad behaviors of bullying and intimidation. Let's help the schools find it.