Getting Serious about Bullying

North Country kids of all ages are getting bullied, educators want it to stop

Story by Christine Thompson

Imagine a classroom of twenty kids. All of them having different heights, learning capabilities, eye colors, clothing styles, and personalities. Five of those kids thrive off learning. Five others thrive off making friends. Five more thrive off solitude. The last five thrive off control. What do all of these kids have in common? A lot more than some may suspect, and for the last five, a lot of similarities go overlooked.

Ten percent of students experience bullying on a regular basis, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Whether it's overt or subtle, blatant or more stealth, it's a reality facing all of us.

"It is harassment that takes many forms: verbal, physical, and emotional," said Sue Coonrod, principal of Beekmantown Middle School. "Students bully in all sorts of ways - physical harm, direct verbal slams, indirect rumor mongering, and cyber bullying. Students even influence other students to shun the victim."

This isn’t a new concept, especially not in schools. With social development being a key component to growth throughout education, these confrontations are seemingly inevitable. In the case of bullying, it can have a short-term and long-term effect on the individual.

"I work with grades three through five," said Carrie Zales, Oak Street Elementary School principal. "Pretty much what I see most of the time are students that are victims internalize the things that are happening to them. So they end up being students who withdraw socially from school."

While some students socially withdraw and experience academic troubles, bullying also creates an endless cycle in the school environment.

"Bullying comes down from the dynamic of some type of privilege or dominance, and that might be in an individual or in a group," added J.W. Wiley, diversity consultant and professor at Plattsburgh State University College. "I think bullying makes the statement that it might give you a certain level of privilege which gives you the right to leverage that privilege against someone who doesn’t have it." Kids learn from these experiences to either be bullied or be the bully, Wiley emphasized.

"One of the most important but dangerous people in the bullying initiatives are the bystanders, the people that don’t ‘stand up’ against the actions that they are seeing."

For Tom Matthews, a fourth grader at Peru Elementary School, bullying hasn’t been an issue or his younger brother, James. "But if I saw a bully, I would probably ask them to stop bullying and respect the people they are bullying instead of picking on them," said Matthews. For some kids, this isn’t easy and can create social consequences enhancing this negative cycle.

"Often at this age level, kids don’t understand it’s bullying. At Oak Street we use the term, and define it for them using examples and non-examples. We even discuss harassment with them and talk about it and what kind of consequences their behaviors hold," Zales said. "They need to be taught what bullying is. That is kind of a difficult term and concept for some students to learn. We, as educators, can’t assume that kids know what bullying is."

And yet, somehow, this proactive approach isn’t translating universally. Kids across the country experience bullying from small scale instances to more serious cases.

"None of these kids who bully want to be bullies. If they really focus on the experience of being bullied and the pain, then they wouldn’t go out and put that on someone else," Wiley said.

Most of the time, educators, peers, and family members are realizing too late. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children who are bullied experience real suffering that can interfere with their social and emotional development as well as their school performance. Some victims of bullying have even attempted suicide rather than continue to endure such harassment and punishment.

Local initiatives to stop bullying have been implemented. Kim Garrison, a senior at PSUC ran a two day program at Plattsburgh High School last year called "stand up."  The program facilitated conversations with approximately 700 PHS students during their gym class. A group of fraternity and sorority members from PSUC helped with the program. They challenged student’s language and behaviors through evaluating common problematic phrases, like "that’s so gay," or "that’s retarded," that many students overlook.

"I feel these initiatives are important for a lot of reasons. Every student gets bullied at one point in their lives, and it does affect them," Garrison said. "One of the most important, but dangerous people in the bullying initiatives are the bystanders, the people that don’t ‘stand up’ against the actions that they are seeing."

Bystanders, as Garrison called them, are a key part to stopping negative interactions. Zales said it’s not so much the bullying that is a problem, but to actually get students to report what they are seeing.

"Students need to learn to report things at school. There is a difference between reporting and tattling. They aren’t comfortable with reporting because they have always been told its tattling," Zales said.

At Oak Street Elementary School they have the Behavioral Intervention Committee. BIC looks for opportunities to work with the school administration and other external resources to address bullying. BIC also takes the proactive educational approach by using videos offered through networks like PBS. Oak Street Elementary also works with Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support to continue their community outreach and foster positive relationships within their student body.

"We as educators can’t assume that kids know whatbullying is."

Last year, PBS producer Richard Allen and Wiley created a film called "Dissed Respect: The Impact of Bullying."  The film encourages conversations about bullying in varying grade levels. Filmmakers interviewed students from elementary school to high school. Each conversation was a catalyst for a larger conversation addressing this high risk behavior. They used candid conversation, skits and interviews with these students and experts to better explain bullying and why it is problematic.

The film impacted a wide range of communities reaching six of the top ten television markets in the country and has been viewed in twenty-three states, Wiley noted. In his opinion, the film has a different impact based on the way individuals use it. Whether they are using the skits to start conversations with elementary schools or using the whole film to start more provocative conversations in the high school setting, Wiley feels the movie hits home.

"Hopefully students will connect with their childhood and think about where they are now: bullier, victim or bystander. The movie takes you somewhere," Wiley said. We witness how bullying impacts our lives universally, but now, what is the next step?

In Wiley’s words, "we take the time to educate. We start conversations about bystanding. We remove the mixed messages."

Are you a bully? A victim? Or a bystander?