Pandora's Blog

I have the utmost respect for schools and administrators that grab this problem by the horns and face it head on. Sadly, it has come to a point where schools need to step in and do the parenting that parents aren’t doing (e.g. teaching kids to play nice in the sandbox). So, for stepping up, props!

This week, news came across the district administrators in Salisbury MD and Polk County FL have revised and clarified their cyberbullying policies. I have pasted stories below. If you live in one of these areas, you can feel a bit safer now knowing that the schools have your back (in case you are a victim). But parents still need to do their jobs at home and make sure their kids are not acting as a bully to anyone… Now there are consequences.

The easiest way to do this is by monitoring with software like our PC Pandora. It will record everything your child does online so you have the full, un-filtered, actual knowledge you need to be a more effective and stronger parent.

These stories are a great read because they also illustrate the universal problem that schools are dealing with… It’s also worth noting that we have created a full Internet Safety Symposium (see: PD Pandora) for schools to utilize and help educate parents on the cyberbullying epidemic.

August 16, 2009
Polk Schools Taking Aim At Bullying
Incidents can be reported at district’s Web site.
By John Chambliss, THE LEDGER

BARTOW | For three long months, three classmates harassed and bullied a middle-school student about his weight every school day.

It became so unbearable that the boy began missing school, telling his teachers he had recurring headaches.

Polk County School District officials learned of the problem when a social worker visited his home because of the missed classes. The boy finally told the truth: He was skipping school to avoid the constant harassment.

This school year, because of the Jeffrey Johnson Stand Up for All Students Act that Gov. Charlie Crist signed in June, victims and parents will be able to report incidents anonymously online at the district’s Web site, www.polk-fl.net. Also, different types of bullying will be identified, including cyberbullying, social exclusion, threatening and intimidating behavior, and spreading rumors and falsehoods.

District officials said as part of a stronger anti-bullying policy for K-12 students, they will begin to compile more data on bullying incidents, such as genders of victims, ages and the number of accounts of physical bullying, verbal bullying and cyberbullying.

In 2005, Jeffrey Johnson hanged himself by his book bag strap in his bedroom closet. The Cape Coral teen committed suicide after being bullied for three years. Johnson’s classmates used the Internet to torment him, calling him derogatory names, a stalker and a creep, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Another extreme act of bullying occurred this past spring.

In May, a 13-year-old middle school student told a coach that four classmates held him down inside the Walker Middle School locker room in Tampa and raped him with a broom handle and a hockey stick.

Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies arrested four teens who will be charged as adults, officials have said.

Although each school had its own methods of dealing with the problem, the Polk County district began tweaking its bullying policy before the rape in Tampa.

Lake Gibson Middle School in North Lakeland was one of the first schools to embrace the anti-bullying law last year by handing out dog tags that say “No Bully Zone.”

Victims of bullying were paired with students who spoke out against bullying, said Nancy Woolcock, assistant superintendant of learning support.

What happens away from the classroom, halls or cafeteria poses a big challenge for teachers and principals.

“The biggest obstacle in middle and high school is cyberbullying,” Woolcock said. “Elementary is more face-to-face.”

Bill Sone, a school resource officer at Westwood Middle School in Winter Haven, said that about half of the bullying incidents are through text-messaging or e-mail.

“A lot of times what happens off campus spills onto school grounds,” Sone said.

Sone said that when he identifies cyberbullies, he tells them that they have created a permanent record that could be used against them.

“The potential of illegal activity is usually enough to stop the activity,” Sone said.

When school starts, students will see more signs of the new bill.

Anti-bullying signs will be on campuses, there will be magnets on buses and Johnson’s mother plans to speak to district officials in October.

August 16, 2009
New school policies introduced
Code of Conduct, bullying guidelines explained during awareness meetings
By Candice Evans, Staff Writer

SALISBURY — Students should know better than to throw a punch in Wicomico High School.

Principal Lorenzo Hughes automatically suspends the teens from school grounds for five days. Then he requests another five “out-of-school suspension” days from the superintendent of schools.

“I don’t care if you’re an (Advanced Placement) student,” said Hughes. “I’m going to ask for ‘five plus five’ if you’re touching a kid in my building. I don’t tolerate disruption, especially if someone gets hurt.”

Break the rules at other schools and face similar consequences, said the Wi-Hi principal, who led one of the school system’s community awareness meetings that introduce area residents to Wicomico’s revised Code of Conduct and its bullying policy.

This year, school systems across the state took a closer look at disciplinary guidelines. The Maryland State Board of Education approved the Model Anti-Bullying, Harassment, and Intimidation Policy in February, which set a statewide definition of bullying behavior and required all school systems to submit copies of their anti-bullying policies to the state superintendent in July.

“School is a lot different than it was when I was growing up,” said Kelly Brown, 41, whose two children attend a middle and high school in Wicomico. “It’s a double-edged sword with Internet and cell phones — it can be a curse and danger to our kids.”

Changing times
During the 2007-08 school year, there were 118,834 suspensions or expulsions from school in Maryland’s 24 public school systems, according to the Maryland Youth Risk Behavioral Survey. Of these, 1,257 were for bullying, 1,103 were for harassment and 1,009 were for sexual harassment, representing a total of 3,369 suspensions/expulsions for these categories.

“Ten to 15 years ago, if a staff member saw two kids (playfully) pushing each other, they would maybe let it go,” said Renee McLaughlin, supervisor of student services for Somerset County schools. “But now, we’re telling staff that we need you to stop that type of behavior even if the kids are smiling.”

In Maryland, 12-year-olds are the most frequent victims of bullying and harassment, according to MSDE’s 2009 report, “Bullying, Harassment or Intimidation in Maryland Public Schools.” Research also indicates that this type of behavior occurs more often in middle schools with the majority of incidents happening on school property.

“I think (middle schoolers) are trying to find themselves,” said Ginny Steuart, 45, vice president of the Wicomico County Council of PTAs and the 2009 recipient of the Comcast Parent Involvement Matters Award for the county. “They don’t know where they fit in.”

Wicomico Middle School principal Jon Shearer addressed questions and concerns alongside Hughes during the community awareness meeting held at Oak Ridge Baptist Church last week. He said cell phones have become a “huge problem” at school even though students are not supposed to have them in their possession.

“We don’t go looking for them, but (staff) will confiscate them when we can,” Shearer said.

Hughes said school staff and parents need to create a partnership so cell phones, which can be used as a “tool for cyber bullying,” remain at home.

“One parent came in and broke the student’s cell phone (in half) right in front of me,” said Hughes, who reprimands teens for cell phone use in the classrooms and hallways.

New rules
Described as “more user friendly for the administrator,” Wicomico’s Code of Conduct provides a clear, more consistent plan of action when disciplining a student for an offense, said Cathy Townsend, safe schools coordinator.

For example, a student who falls under the prekindergarten to second grade category could face the minimum penalty of a parent conference, up to a maximum penalty of three days out-of-school suspension for fighting. A student caught fighting in grades nine through 12 could face a minimum penalty of two days OSS, up to a maximum penalty of expulsion.

It took 15 months for nearly 50 committee members to make Code of Conduct revisions, Townsend said.

Wicomico’s policy revisions on bullying — described as any intentional conduct, including verbal, physical, written or electronic communication, that creates a hostile environment for students — were completed in six months by 35 committee members, she said.

While disciplinary guidelines differ slightly for each school system, updated bullying polices were drafted using a similar method.

“One of the major changes to our policy was that parents, students, community partners and school staff had an opportunity to give feedback in the development of this policy,” McLaughlin said.

Frederick Grant, student services supervisor for Worcester County schools, added that policy requirements have gotten broader in scope.

“Previously, school systems reported incidences that were communicated by the victim or by the victim’s parents, relatives or close family friends,” Grant said. “This school year, school systems will be required to report all communicated incidences, with no limitations on who has reported the alleged harassment, bullying or intimidation.”

Even though school officials are optimistic that the policy will yield positive results, some Wicomico parents would be more satisfied with additional support staff and surveillance cameras in schools.

Ben Brumbley, president of the WCCPTA, added that parents are especially concerned about the overall learning environment. When a child continues to misbehave in the classroom, the rest of the students are losing out on their education, he said.

Of course, Steuart said that it is not the school system’s responsibility to stop bullying in schools.

“It’s up to our community,” said the mother of three children who range in age from 9 to 16. “We have to stand and support the children who are making bad choices.”

At Wi-Hi, Principal Hughes enforces a strict disciplinary policy. Freshmen sometimes need an attitude adjustment.

“Most of the fights probably come from ninth graders because they don’t understand the Wi-Hi way of doing things,” Hughes said.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 12:22 PM and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.