CARLSBAD — The Carlsbad City Council voted to approve a resolution affirming its commitment to the safety, dignity and well-being of every child in the city, while declaring that bullying has no place in public spaces.
A video posted March 5 showing a young Black girl being harassed at Poinsettia Park by several white children has received more than 243,000 views and led to hundreds of people attending the March 11 school board meeting seeking justice.
Mayor Pro Tem Priya Bhat-Patel — who requested the proclamation — said at the April 14 City Council meeting that the bullying depicted in the video was not an isolated event.
Bhat-Patel said the resolution, which “sits at the intersection of public health and public policy,” was an effort to “make sure that our community and our children know that we stand with them.”
“Our children are watching, I can tell you that hands down,” Bhat-Patel said. “They’re watching — they’re sponges — they’re watching everything we do. Everything people do in the community.”
As a product of Carlsbad public schools, she said the issue was personal.
“These are not just abstract buildings or institutions for me,” Bhat-Patel said. “They’re actually the hallways that I walked and the community that shaped who I was.”
She added that she hoped the City Council could serve as a model for respectful disagreement and for using constructive discussions as a tool to improve the community.
The City Council voted 4-1 to approve the resolution, with Councilmember Melanie Burkholder casting the dissenting vote.
Burkholder said she supported everything Bhat-Patel said regarding the city’s values and the emotional impact of the Poinsettia Park video.
“We agree that bullying has no place in the City of Carlsbad,” Burkholder said.
She added that while she appreciated the on-the-record discussion, she wanted to stop short of a proclamation to give the school district a chance to respond first.
“I do think the school district does play a role, and I don’t want to get ahead of that as a city government,” Burkholder said.
On March 30, the Carlsbad Unified School District hosted listening sessions as part of its efforts to address and prevent future hate-motivated incidents in schools.
Councilmember Teresa Acosta said she and other members of her Mexican American family have experienced discrimination in Carlsbad.
“We love our community,” Acosta said, “but this is an ongoing issue.”
She thanked community members who advocated against bullying and for bringing the issue to the attention of the City Council.
“The least that we can do is pass a proclamation and work with our local school districts,” Acosta said. “We are shining a light on it and saying that this is an issue. We acknowledge it, we are not sweeping anything under the rug and we want to do our part from where we stand to help fix it.”
Yusef Miller, representing the North County NAACP and the North County Equity and Justice Coalition, said the resolution gave the city an opportunity to “publish our conscience” on an issue that pervades the coastal region.
“The thing that made this one so propelling for most people to get off their couches and come out and support us is that it was captured on video,” Miller said. “But we have other incidents that happen throughout Carlsbad and other places that are not captured on video. And that’s why we may feel like this was a one-off.”
He advocated for ethnic studies and education about different cultures, backgrounds and ways of living “so that they can be more sensitive to being around people with differences.”
Councilmember Kevin Shin said the city’s Cultural Arts Division might drive future actions taken by the city government.
Shin said the division could “be the powerhouse of how we bridge things together” by showing “people the differences in our society and how beautiful it is.”
Bhat-Patel said the Cultural Arts Division had been part of earlier discussions and that she would like to see it included moving forward.
Shin also said he had personal questions about what role the government should play compared to the family environments that shape values.
Reflecting on his childhood experiences as an Asian American growing up in Los Angeles, he said he often felt bullies lacked stable home lives or quality mentors.
“Sometimes [parents] need support,” Shin said. “They’re overwhelmed.”
Mayor Keith Blackburn said he saw “no downside at all with approving the resolution” in light of growing mental health and suicide epidemics among teens who must navigate digital influences past generations did not face.
“I think a lot is because of that combination of the helplessness of being bullied, the pressure that you get from social media, and combine that with the puberty of being a teenager,” Blackburn said.
