As bullying returns to the classroom, parents work to find solutions
Ideas shared in new Facebook forum: ‘We cannot continue to stand by while our children are hurt’
Manchester parents have launched an online forum to discuss school bullying, a chronic and widespread problem and part of an overall increase in student misbehavior in the state and nation.
The members-only Facebook group is called Stop the Bullying in Manchester CT Public Schools (bit.ly/3rkcajw). School Superintendent Matt Geary said at the board of education’s Nov. 22 meeting that he had received communications about bullying and harassment and would work on a presentation about school climate and culture for an upcoming board meeting.
One of the messages to the superintendent was from the founder of the new Facebook group, who wrote that bullying has “gotten out of hand, and we cannot continue to stand by while our children are hurt in school daily.”
“The community would like to do what we can to help OTHER than just talking to our children at home,” the woman, who in a recent interview asked not to be identified, wrote. “None of the schools or the parents have the ability to change what is happening alone.”
Geary noted at the meeting that her email referenced a recent story about a Louisiana high school where a group of fathers started a program called “Dads on Duty” to curb student fights. Bad behavior linked to the coronavirus pandemic has been rampant in some school districts in Connecticut and the nation at the start of this school year. Geary said the presentation will include potential opportunities for parents to get involved in bettering school climate, although not necessarily in a hallway patrol program like “Dads on Duty.”
Bullying is far from a local issue.
Researchers say the respite that many bullied students throughout the nation enjoyed during the pandemic has ended with the return to classrooms.
About one in five students in the nation experiences bullying, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (stopbullying. gov).
In Connecticut, a 2019 survey found that 17.8% of students reported being bullied in schools — 21.3% among females and 14.3% among males. The same survey found 14.3% of students in the state experienced cyberbullying, 17.3% among females and 11.4% among males.
State law defines bullying as “an act that is direct or indirect and severe, persistent or pervasive” that causes physical or emotional harm to an individual; places an individual in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm; or infringes on the rights or opportunities of an individual at school.
Bullying includes written, oral or electronic communication, “a physical act or gesture based on any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, socioeconomic status, academic status, physical appearance, or mental, physical, developmental or sensory disability, or by association with an individual or group who has or is perceived to have one or more of such characteristics.”
“Cyberbullying” means any act of bullying through the use of the Internet, interactive and digital technologies, cellular mobile telephone or other mobile electronic devices or any electronic communications. The state also established a safe school climate framework meant to address bullying.
Kate Dias, president of the Connecticut Teachers Association, said she did not know if bullying has increased substantially, but teachers across the state have been working with students who need to relearn self-management skills after the disruption of the pandemic.
Dias noted that before social media was widespread, bullied kids could get some relief at home. At least their tormenters were out of their faces until they returned to school.
“Now, kids can’t get away from each other,” Dias said. “When there’s a beef, they can go at each other 24/7 and that adds a whole layer to this that is really emotionally draining.”
The best answer for teachers, she said, is to build relationships with students, while acknowledging that teenagers typically will not reveal what they don’t want adults to know.
The Psychiatric Times reported this month that remote learning provided some protection for teens against bullying, which is more commonly done in person. The report cited a Boston University study that showed online searches for “school bullying” and “cyberbullying” — searches that historically correspond with higher rates of bullying — dropped by 30%-40% in spring 2020 and maintained that level through the following winter. As students gradually returned to school this fall, searches about bullying increased, according to the report.
Violence has risen dramatically in schools across the country since classes resumed. From Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 this year, the National Association of School Resource Officers reported 97 gun-related incidents in schools compared with 29 in the same period in 2019. Also, more students have reported mental health problems related to the pandemic, so it’s easy to connect the dots to a likely increase in bullying, said Mo Canady, executive director of the 10,000-member school resource officer organization.