www.schooltoolstv.com

So what does work in Bully Prevention and Social Skills Education? The Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Outcomes recently released a report that I read in the Huffington Post which stated: "For anti-bullying programs to provide long-term outcomes -- not simply decrease victim numbers but help victims remain crime free as adults -- researchers must look beyond narrow programs that produce statistically significant numbers, toward broader (and possibly less measurable) efforts that make a difference in the lives of the victims. Likewise, schools must continue to reach out to all bullying victims, using methods catered to the community's specialized needs, not just programs that conform to a measurable standard."  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/17/school-bullying-report-ma_n_1155250.html

What would those kind of interventions look like in practice? The OJJ went on to recommend the following ideas:

• Offer mentoring programs.
• Provide students with community service opportunities.
• Address the difficult transition between elementary and middle school.
• Start prevention early.

I want to thank all of you who let your class watch SchoolToolsTv. You’re making a difference and giving your students the skills they need to really succeed.

I’m concerned about the current attention being paid to bullying for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the media attention on teen suicides associated with bullying. It is tragic when a young person makes the choice to end their life and we need to do everything we can to recognize and intervene. My concern is that we may be overlooking a much deeper social problem and other mental health issues that are associated with suicide and focusing all of our limited resources on bullying.

The American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide (http://www.afsp.org/) website states that there were over 1,800 suicides of youth between the ages of 10-18 in the US last year and that ninety percent of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.

The vast majority of these suicides have not been linked in any way to bullying. The most common factor attributed to teens who take their own life is depression caused by a variety of life experiences such as:

• Divorce.
• Violence in the home.
• Low self esteem.
• Family history of suicide.
• Substance abuse.
• Death of someone close to the teenager.
• The suicide of a friend or someone he or she "knows" online.

Jamey Rodemeyer killed himself September 18 after complaining in online videos and posts about being bullied over his sexual orientation. His video has gone viral and has become a rallying cry for proponents of new bully legislation that could have possibly helped Jamey.

However, USAToday reports “that police, school and legal officials say the reasons behind Jamey's suicide "appear far broader than just bullying by classmates." "Jamey had also blogged about experiencing a variety of personal problems in his life outside of school in the weeks leading up to his death," http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/12/high-school-bullying-suicide-new-york-suspended/1

What’s being done to identify and help students who are dealing with depression and other challenging life circumstances? I believe we have to look at the overall mental health of our schools and our students and provide better ways of identifying and  supporting youth who are at risk.

As one writer for the Toronto Sun said recently, “we have to go after the bullies, and teach them. We also have to show kids that suicide is not the way to deal with bullying. We MUST teach them that there are other ways to approach all the problems life throws our way.” http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2011/12/09/bullying-suicide-and-the-risk-of-contagion/

I’m convinced that the current bullying epidemic and teen suicide rate speak to deeper mental health issues being faced by today’s youth. I’m concerned that the global media attention being paid to youth who commit suicide will encourage others to do the same. I’m concerned that if we only focus on bullying we’ll miss an opportunity to really help young people learn how to deal with the challenges of life in the Twenty First Century.

I have my Google Alerts set to the keyword “bullying” so I get a wide variety of articles about this important issue and the ongoing debate. Today I saw an article that encouraged victims to learn how to fight and start punching people; another that talked about the need for tougher laws; and still another that encouraged “reading to children” as a prime deterrent. The one that jumped out at me was an article from the Lake County News outside of Chicago that talked about a program called “Stop, Walk & Talk” which is being used by a local middle school.

The reason this article really appealed to me was because the emphasis was on skills development and assertive communication. I don’t believe that governments or institutions like schools are going to be able to keep me safe anymore than I believe that social security will be around in it’s present form when I retire. There are obviously going to be times when students need our help but they also need to learn how to assert themselves and deal with these issues before they get out of hand.

Bullying is an unequal relationship between two or more people based on power and control. It takes time to create this kind of relationship. How many of these dangerous relationships could be avoided if we start to really teach preventive measures, like assertiveness and self awareness? Healthcare has taken this approach in helping us to live longer and fuller lives and I believe we should do the same with this mental health issue.

Laws and punishment deal with a problem after the fact. Programs like “Stop, Walk & Talk” deal with common social problems before they escalate and teaches everyday skills that are beneficial to all students, regardless of whether they’re being bullied or not. It reminds me of the old saying, “Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Teach them how to fish, they eat for a lifetime.”

Let’s not wait for federal or state laws to tell us what to do and how to do it. Let’s work with our student populations to identify what needs to be done and help them create preventive programs that will build skills and deal with the reality of their local situation. Do you really believe government is going to be able to solve this problem for us?

For more information:

Article #1 - http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/27/8977993-new-anti-bullying-trend-teaching-victims-to-fight-back

Article #2 - http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/222387/group/homepage/

Article #3 - http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/pb-school-bullying-program-20111127,0,3373519.story

Article #4 - http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/9101023-418/woodland-middle-school-launches-anti-bullying-program.html

Recommended reading: "The Recess Queen" by Alexis O'Neill and "Stop Picking on Me: A First Look at Bullying" by Pat Thomas and Lesley Harker.

An article recently appeared in the Standard-Examiner newspaper which talks about a Bully Hotline that was created to help students in Ogden, Utah report incidence of bullying in their community. About half way through the article, it states that of the “16 calls that have been received, 3 turned out to be actual incidence of bullying that needed further intervention.”

Weber Elementary is a relatively small school of 450 students so that’s about 1 call for every 30 students since the inception of the hotline in September. Based on those numbers, they should expect about 100 calls during the year identifying an average of 24 incidences that need further attention.

My concern is how much time does it take to follow up on the 75% of the calls that turn out to be something other than bullying and how this will affect larger schools and districts around the country. My question is, who is responsible for following up, where will the money come from to fund the follow up and how will the offenders be dealt with going forward? Another concern is where the additional time will come from for these issues to be dealt with effectively considering that testing doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

I believe we need to develop virtual resources that will assist students engaged in bullying in learning new social behaviors and in developing empathy for their victims. Suspensions and expulsions won’t address these issues. Victims will also need help and support. We have identified a real problem, now we need to begin the process of identifying and implementing real solutions that work.

For more information, please visit: http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/11/05/davis-school-hot-bullies-trail