Written by Troy Williams, School Resource Officer
What is "Bullying"? The school handbook defines it as: "overt, repeated acts, including physical, verbal, or any other behaviors, that are committed by a student or group of students against another student with the intent to harass, ridicule, humiliate, or intimidate the other student". Bullying can include battery, tripping, intimidation, rumor spreading and shunning, demands for money, theft of possessions, destruction of another's work or property and name-calling. Additionally, in today's high-tech world, hundreds if not thousands of children are experiencing bullying over social networking sites and texting every day.
Parents: you must talk with your children about this issue and be able to recognize the signs of a child who is being bullied. Some of those signs are: loss of interest in school work, doesn't sleep well, sad or depressed, afraid to go to school, comes home with torn or dirty clothes, may have abrasions, cuts or bruising and isolating one's self from other friends. If you see these signs you must talk with your child. Furthermore, you must call the school and alert them to the possibility that your child is being bullied. I would also recommend contacting all the child's teachers to have them monitor the situation.
As school administrators and I talk with adolescents, we tell them we cannot fix the problem if we don't know about it. There are people out there who want to help. It is important for all students/adolescents to know that they can report bullying when they see it.
Likewise parents, here are some signs that your child might be the bully: teases or threatens other children, hot-tempered, cannot follow rules, may be aggressive toward adults, shows lack of sympathy for those that are bullied, positive attitude toward violence, or involved in other antisocial behavior (thefts, criminal mischief, etc.). I would encourage you to talk with your child, involve a counselor (private or school) and hold them accountable in your own home. Bullying often starts at an early age so parents should watch the interaction of their child in the home with other siblings, on the playground and monitor any school discipline issues.
So what do we do? If you believe your child is being bullied you must sit them down and talk about your beliefs. Tell them that it is not their fault and that is all right to tell you what happened. Additionally, assure them that something will be done. There is a real fear of retaliation and shame that children have when this happens. You must take action that the child sees as tangible. Furthermore, I would suggest trying to foster other positive relationships for your child by involving them in some extracurricular activity, youth group or sport that may allow for the development of other meaningful positive interactions.
Here at Portage High School we have adopted a "Harassment Order to Cease and Desist". It is a form designed to identify harassing behavior and potential bullies. Additionally, an "Action and Supervision Plan" for those committing the acts is developed that incorporates and involves all facets of the school staff (i.e. Admin, SRO, Counselor, Teacher, etc.). The form must be signed by the student (bully), parent of the bully and an Administrator. All PTS schools are devoted to facing and dealing with issues of bullying; Parents, how you respond can make all the difference in the world to that child/victim.