Oklahoma school districts work to provide hope to bully victims
Violence prevention requires change in school climate, experts say
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23
BY DAWN MARKS
Published: November 17, 2008
He spends his time alone.
He eats lunch by himself. He hears students making comments about his clothes and saying he’s poor. He just tries to stay out of trouble. He thinks no one can help. The 14-year-old is likely one of thousands of Oklahoma students who will encounter bullying during the school year if the latest numbers available hold true. During 2006-07 there were more than 12,000 incidents in state schools of bullying or harassment. The seventh-grader, who didn’t want to give his name, said bullying happens frequently in his school in the Oklahoma City area. The student, who contacted The Oklahoman at the request of Oklahoma City School District administrators, said he and other students don’t report it. "What’s the point of doing that if it’s not going to change?” he said. "They’re still going to follow you, hurt you.” Students can feel like no one cares, Nancy Willard, director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, said while speaking last week at the state Education Department’s Safe and Healthy Schools Conference. "They’re not going to report unless they think the adults will handle the situation effectively,” Willard said. She spoke to teachers about cyberbullying and encouraged them to investigate cyberbullying because it may signal direct bullying. "You cannot tell the bully from the online material,” she said. "Don’t immediately assume that the student is the origin of the problem.” Steve Wessler, who spoke Thursday at a Stop Hate in the Hallways conference, said mediation can stop bullying before it escalates to violence. Wessler leads the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence at the University of Southern Maine and is former Maine assistant attorney general. He said violence and bullying often are linked. "This is an issue not just about how kids talk to each other, but also about violence,” Wessler said. Wessler said people must change the climate in schools, teaching students to object to degrading language and bullying, since most incidences occur out of the sight of adults. Many districts have anti-bullying and violence prevention programs. Norman Public Schools established Rachel’s Challenge, named after the first student killed at Columbine. The Oklahoma City School District has Heart of a Champion, a program targeted at reducing absenteeism and bullying, and districts like Edmond provide peer mediation training for students, a more formal way for students to object to bullying. The Oklahoma City student said he hopes more teachers will talk to students and help students like him. "I don’t know what to do, so I just stay to myself,” he said.
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The problem is that no one has really cared about the impact of bullying. People act as if it's some childhood rite of passage. It isn't. It's aggressive and antisocial behavior that must be corrected. It's also an indication of deeper problems; the bully might be abused at home or suffering from other troubles. It's in everyone's best interests to deal with bullies.