A discussion panel made up of law enforcement officials and one school administrator explained their roles in combating bullying to community members during a March 25 public forum organized by the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation’s anti-bullying task force.
Stinesville Elementary School Principal Bill Buxton, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mike Pershing, Ellettsville Town Marshal Tony Bowlen, Monroe County Juvenile Probation Supervisor Christine McAfee, and Monroe County Juvenile Prosecutor Rich Hansen manned the discussion panel. Monroe County judge Frances Hill moderated.
Hill began the discussion by giving the definition of bullying given by the Indiana Department of Education.
According to that entity, the word bullying means “overt, repeated acts or gestures, including verbal or written communications transmitted, physical acts committed, or any other behaviors committed by a student or group of students against another student with the intent to harass, ridicule, humiliate, intimidate, or harm the other student.”
“Bullying is not a crime. It’s part of the disciplinary code of the school system,” Hill said.
Given that, much of the panel discussion sought to determine where bullying stops being a school disciplinary issue and becomes a legal issue. In some cases, such as when physical altercations occur between students, the police have to conduct an investigation. If they determine a crime has been committed, they turn over the case to the probation department, which will then try to assess whether or not getting the court involved is the best course of action.
Hill noted that the law enforcement bodies in the county take a “Do No Harm” approach to these kinds of situations. That means, if they can avoid putting a child through the court process, they will try to do so, as putting them through the process may cause harm to the child by association.
According to the panel, Monroe County offers several alternative solutions for such cases. The Victim Offender Reconciliation Program, for example, offers mediation sessions for community members, even if they are not court-mandated. The Monroe County Youth Shelter also offers counseling and can be an effective tool in giving all parties involved a “time out.” Other options, such as Child Protective Services and Susie’s House, are also readily available in the case that the bullying behavior stems from abuse or neglect at home.
At the school corporation level, there is also a parent-to-parent newsletter that encourages parent involvement and, at the Edgewood Primary School, there is the resource room that services parents of students at all grade levels in the district.
“These situations don’t happen in a vacuum, so simply dealing with the young person has not shown itself to be beneficial,” McAfee said.
Several audience members reached out for education on how to identify signs that their child was being bullied or bullying other children during a question and answer session following the panel discussion. Administrators said they appreciated that, but they have trouble reaching the parents who really need the education.
“We’re just racking our brains trying to get the ones we need to be here,” said Edgewood Junior High School Principal Donna Atkinson.
In dealing with bullying issues, administrators encouraged parents to report what they hear to them, as they can often be unaware of it.
Most incidents reported as bullying are peer conflicts. They do not meet the criteria set by the DOE to be classified as bullying, usually because they are one-time events that do not occur again after faculty or administrators have become involved.
RBBCSC School Board President Dana Kerr asked what disciplinary actions could be taken after issues were discovered.
The first step, EHS Assistant Principal Jerry Bland said, would be to meet with both students and resolve the situation in such a way that both students come out better for it. If a student needs disciplined for the same issue a second time, they are generally given a three to five-day suspension. The third time, they are expelled, though Bland said that has only occurred once in the last six years.
Disciplinary actions are also subject to the severity of the incident being dealt with and the individual disciplinary record of the student.
“There’s no perfect solution,” Bland said.
Kerr also asked what parents should expect in terms of communication from the school since administrators are bound by confidentiality.
Buxton and EHS Principal Dick Ackerman both replied that it was difficult to toe the line on confidentiality issues and communicate with the parents of all students involved. Parents should be made aware of what their child has reported in a timely manner.
The panel also talked about what it took to prevent bullying from happening in the first place.
“You have to start modeling this behavior at home,” Hansen said.
He and McAfee emphasized the importance of compromise in keeping the peace.
“The skill of compromise seems to be a lost art in many of the communities that we deal with,” McAfee said.
Jerry Pittsford, EJHS teacher and chair of the anti-bullying task force, said that students have to be empowered to speak up if they are being bullied or see someone being bullied. Parents have to be empowered to let administrators know when they hear about issues.
Bland later noted that 70% of students reported to a survey conducted by the anti-bullying task force that they had witnessed incidents of bullying and done nothing about it.
“My biggest fear is that I do miss a bullying situation,” Bland said. “I’m more worried about that than just about anything we deal with.”
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2013. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.