Printed in The Villager, August 2014
Though bullying is commonly thought of as a “rite of
passage” of “kids being kids” and a way of “toughening up”, it is actually a
form of social violence that has real and often permanent consequences. Children who are bullied have increased risk
for depression, anxiety, health concerns, and a decrease in academic
achievement. Children who bully are more
likely to have ongoing problems with abuse of others, abuse drugs and alcohol,
drop out of school, and have criminal convictions. Witnesses or bystanders of bullying can
struggle with depression and anxiety, school attendance and be at increased
risk for drug and alcohol abuse. Bottom
line, kids who are left alone with these dynamics struggle with feeling safe
with others, and internalize distress.
Unfortunately, bullying is still under-recognized and poorly
addressed at a societal level. A teacher
in a suburban school district tells me that she has seen bullying in every
school she has taught in; and that she has yet to see a comprehensive dedicated
approach to deal with bullying in any school system. She sees that teachers often do not have
significant training, administrative support, nor the time to deal with complex
social and interpersonal issues that originate outside classroom environment
but somehow become another responsibility in their already overloaded set of
expectations. I believe that our
neighborhood schools, though often well intentioned, face the same constraints
and often drop the ball in addressing bullying in the school community.
On June 26th, 2014, Governor Quinn signed legislation to
strengthen anti-bullying laws in Illinois. Effective immediately, the current
legislation requires public, charter and “non-public and non-sectarian” schools
to implement anti-bullying policy that: provides a definition of bullying;
outlines procedures of reporting (including means to report bullying
anonymously), investigating, and responding to bullying; includes parent
notification; outlines interventions; describes means of posting and
distributing the school’s policy; and reports data on bullying to the ISBE.
This legislation was the result of a task force’s findings that Illinois
previous anti-bullying law lacked adequate definition, policy and reporting
directives. Illinois still lacks a model
policy program, and leaves policy development to individual schools/school
districts.
Might
this law be the solution to transform educational settings and make them
bully-proof? Unfortunately, I don’t
think this law, in concert with previous laws, will make a tremendous
difference. It seems to lack funding and
a model program, and leaves schools subject to the commitment and resources in
already stressed systems. The truth is
that bullying exists because we, as a society, permit it and perpetuate it. It takes a community to change bullying. It takes students and parents who, in the
face of bullying situations, are willing to speak up and insist on change. It takes bystanders who will become
“up-standers” – individuals who will offer to help and will commit to action,
and who will refuse to give up. It will
take teachers who continue to go above and beyond to commit themselves to truly
understanding bullying dynamics and to find daily social emotional learning
opportunities to guide their students.
It takes administrators who are visionaries and leaders that will commit
to a comprehensive anti-bullying program such as Olweus Bullying Prevention
Program, and who will oversee daily efforts for years to create a healthier,
safer social and emotional school environments.
It takes children and adults who are committed to become more tolerant,
respectful and compassionate towards themselves and others. Change is possible
if we hold ourselves and each other compassionately responsible.
For
more information on the dynamic and effects of bullying, links to state law and
effective anti-bullying programs, and local resources of support from Bully
Free Beverly – please visit us at: http://beverlytherapists.com/bully.htm and via our Facebook
page: https://www.facebook.com/BullyFreeBeverly. More details will be posted when available. We will provide a workshop on Bullying for
interested parents and educators in September.
For additional help, please feel free to call
one of the therapists on the Bully Free Beverly team: Lisa Catania, LCSW
773-719-1751, Jennifer Lara, LCPC 773-251-8016, or Michelle Wood, LCSW
773-307-8365.
