Commentary; Posted: 12/8/04
Awareness can help prevent bullying
No child should have to go to school feeling afraid and unsafe. School officials should do everything possible to make the school safe, because students who are fearful have difficulty learning.
Ever since students started shooting at one another and killing their classmates, school leaders have been trying to make schools safer by locking doors, installing cameras, and cracking down on kids who fight, taunt, tease and bully other kids.
Parents, too, are realizing they must treat bullying as something more than just ěboys will be boys,î ěkids going through a stage,î and a ěneed to fight their own battles.î
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 37 percent of all students fear for their safety in school.
School boards across the Twin Cities metropolitan area have recognized that bullying students is a serious matter, and have passed policies to prevent it.
There is some indication that bullying was a factor in a young student who shot and killed two students at Cold Spring Rocori High School, although taunting is no excuse for such a tragic act.
Within schools, awareness campaigns are underway to underscore that bullying is not acceptable and is subject to disciplinary action.
Momentum is building to have the state Legislature establish state-wide standards and to pass an anti-bullying policy and training for school officials. Thereís growing support among legislators as they hear about cases of bullied students and see graphic examples of it on television.
The majority of school districts have an anti-bullying policy, which, in some cases is part of the overall discipline policy.
The first step in any effective anti-bullying campaign is to make students, parents, teachers and administrators aware of the problem. That is happening in schools across the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
A leader in this movement is the Anoka-Hennepin school district. Energized by parents concerns, the interest of a school board member and with the support of the superintendent, the school board passed a policy defining bullying, identifying it and ordered strict penalties to stop it.
All schools waged awareness campaigns for parents, students and teachers. As a result, more kids are reporting it, and last year seven kids were expelled for fighting, where in some cases bullying may have been involved.
This fall in the district a survey was taken to find out where bullying happens and what can be done about it.
One finding is 22 percent of the kids in the Anoka-Hennepin school district say they feel unsafe while riding to school in the school bus.
Despite the school districtís emphasis on reporting bullying to authorities, the survey shows 37 percent of students try to ignore the bully and ětough it outî themselves. Another 24 percent tell the bully to stop, 15 percent tell their parents.
Otherwise, not many tell other ěsafe people.î
Forest Lake School District has a policy with teeth in it to prevent and deal with students who bully. The policy sets up reporting procedures, and, depending on the severity it follows the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act, which could include loss of privileges, removal from class, suspension and expulsion.
Cambridge-Isanti School District has a comprehensive attack on the problem including character education focusing on respect, responsibility, compassion, honesty and self discipline. In addition, the school board has approved a bullying-prevention policy for students and adults. A district-wide in-service on aspects of bullying is planned for February and a survey will be taken to get more data.
While some may argue that having a state-wide anti-bullying policy is excessive, the reality is that more needs to be done to make all schools in the state as safe as possible for young learners. ó Don Heinzman
Forest Lake Times
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880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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