Menu
Superintendent, students agree bullying is issue
ard of Education meeting earlier this month, Superintendent Dianne Gross discussed recent community concerns relating to bullying, as part of her superintendent's report.
"I have sent to you all as board members some information about contacts that I've had with various people," Gross said. "Some of it face to face, some of it through e-mails and some of it through phone calls. And it's about concerns about how students are being treated by other students. How students are being treated by staff, (and) staff to staff. It's just kind of all over the place, including parents on that."
Gross told the board she wanted to share some of the issues currently taking place within the school district as it relates to the issue of bullying. Gross said she asked each of the principals in the school district to compile a list of their concerns associated with bullying.
"We know that bullying is a concern, Gross said. "We know that it's something that can lead to, you know, the mass shootings that we've heard about. We've also read and heard about suicides that happened as a result of bullying. We want to ensure that those kinds of things are not happening in our school district."
According to the Fort School Middle School discipline handbook, bullying is defined as "Any intentional gesture or intentional written, verbal, or physical act or threat that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student or staff member that could have the effect of:
* Harming a student or staff member, whether physically or mentally;
* Damaging a student's or staff member's property;
* Placing a student or staff member in reasonable fear of harm to the student or staff member;
* Placing a student or staff member in reasonable fear of damage to the student's or staff member's property;"
* Cyberbullying is also included in the FSMS Anti-Bullying policy.
Hallie Grillot, a seventh-grade student at FSMS, and member of Positive Action with Students (PAWS), said she has noticed a marked improvement from her sixth-grade year when it comes to incidents of bullying school-wide.
"I think it's a serious issue," Grillot told the Tribune. "There definitely was (bullying). It was really bad last year, but I'm surprised how much better it's gotten this year. I haven't seen near as much (bullying) this year. The girls are not really physical and fighting like the boys. The girls do things like writing stuff on the bathroom walls, that kind of bullying. But the boys are a lot more physical."
During the November board meeting, Gross further elaborated on recent visits she had with district principals.
"My visits with the principals, I feel like we're very good at reacting," Gross said. "We investigate any issue that's brought to our attention. And we spend quite a bit of time doing that to find out what's really happening. Is it really a bullying issue? Is it kids being kids? But how do we prevent kids feeling like they're being mistreated? We want everybody to feel valued."
Jonathan Daniels, a seventh-grade student attending FSMS and also a member of PAWS, said most of the incidents he has witnessed were out of sight from teachers or administrators.
"It's usually pushing and fighting in the bathrooms, mostly in places where the teachers can't see it," Daniels told the Tribune. Daniels later added "And in the bathroom, they take paper balls and they throw them at people and smack each other."
Grillot said administrators have previously attempted to enforce a rule limiting four students in the bathroom at one time.
"That is supposed to be the limit," Grillot said. "The teachers say four people but nobody ever follows that. And usually there's like 10 girls in there when you go in." Grillot later added "At least they haven't done what they did last year, like how they completely vandalized the bathroom."
Grillot said teachers have become more aware of the bathroom situation.
"There's a lot more teachers patrolling things," Grillot said. "It used to just be teachers stayed in their rooms during break. Now they're all out, and there's a person who's always in front of the bathrooms, always in the halls."
Gross said there will be more discussion regarding the district's plan to eliminate bullying.
"I think as a district we need to put a plan in place that's more about being proactive and helping educate everybody about what bullying means, and how we go about changing the culture and the practices and behaviors of students, staff and folks in our community, quite frankly," Gross said.
Also during her report, Gross said she met with a member of the community who has been seeking signatures for a petition. Even though Gross said she is unsure of the residency of some who signed the petition, she said the concern is real.
"And I do respect the fact that parents are going to be advocates for their kids," Gross said. "But I also think we need to do a better job of educating everybody about what their role is in preventing bullying. So again, you will hear more, probably at the next board meeting, about a possible set of practices that we're going to pursue."
Grillot said she feels that bullying can happen for various reasons.
"I think the person bullying may just have an issue with something -- anger that they just need to let out," Grillot said. "And they're taking it out on someone who doesn't deserve it. Or it could be someone bullying them, so they do the same thing that happens to them, to another kid."
Earlier in the year, FSMS brought in guest speaker Mark Brown to discuss different aspects of bullying. Grillot said she thinks Brown succeeded in boosting student morale.
"He talked about like fake, plastic smiles," Grillot said. "Like the kid who's getting bullied can act like he doesn't care, like, 'it's all right, we're just playing around,' but it's a plastic smile. It really does hurt. They're laughing on the outside but crying on the inside. And bullying starts a lot younger. I always thought bullying when I was little was (just in) high schools. But no, it's all through, like elementary schools, where it's worse. I used to think middle school would be the worst place for bullying, but it really hasn't been bad. They showed (us) a letter from a 10-year-old, that's saying what she gets called. I'm not even allowed to say things like that -- cuss words."
Grillot has advice for students who might be engaging in bullying.
"Even if something was maybe going on that you're upset about, you don't need to take it out on someone who doesn't really deserve it," Grillot said. "Because they didn't really do anything to you to deserve it. Sometimes bullying is just they didn't like something that person said, so they're going to get them back. Just be the bigger person and don't do anything back. If you hurt someone physically, you can get charged with assault. It's hurting you, too. You're not just doing it to that person, which is hurting them, but you're doing it to yourself. Don't be hateful, you're just making it worse."
Daniels also had advice for his FSMS peers.
"I would ask them (those bullying) if they would want to be in their shoes for a day, and how it feels to get bullied," Daniels said. "You shouldn't take it out on others. You can go to the counselor and talk with her. It would be something you can get help with."