Big, bad bullies beware, new programs fight back

MAT-SU -- Bullies are finding it harder to push people around as national programs, scientific research and schoolwide policies increasingly focus on the specific problem of bullying.

For years, workplaces and schools have enforced anti-harassment, anti-discrimination and civil rights laws. Bullies, however, have long terrorized their peers in playgrounds and hallways for generations. Schools are now cracking down like never before.

Bullying-related lawsuits across the nation have placed more pressure on schools to implement prevention programs as parents have turned from suing the parent of the bully to suing the schools where the incidents take place.

Schools that do not have bullying prevention programs face potentially heavy lawsuits and increased insurance premiums.

This past July, the Anchorage School District and its insurance company paid $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a middle-school student who attempted suicide after being bullied at school.

While no one has brought a bullying-related lawsuit against the Mat-Su Borough School District, district officials have decided to address the problem in advance.

Last week, the district sponsored a one-day bullying prevention program at Colony High School.

Mat-Su Borough School District Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle said the district is trying to be proactive.

"Anything that happens in one school district in the nation sends a ripple effect everywhere else," Doyle said. "That's why we are addressing this issue now. Our specific insurance premiums have not gone up because of this issue but it doesn't happen that quick -- there's a delayed effect. I think what you're going to see is that insurance renewals will be higher if districts are not doing training."

Doyle said it is important to send a strong message that the district is combating bullying and implementing programs that identify problems. To that end, the district co-sponsored a bullying prevention conference in July, in Anchorage, where national speakers addressed schoolwide bullying programs.

Lebron McPhail, the Mat-Su Borough School District's director of education, said that many staff and teachers from the district attended the conference in Anchorage this summer.

"People from around the nation presented research," McPhail said. "From there, people wanted more information and since that time we've had two in-services dedicated to bullying."

Roughly 90 people attended last week's bullying program at Colony High School, including teachers, counselors, law enforcement officers, nurses and agencies that deal with students at risk.

While the number of specific bullying incidents in the district is hard to identify at this point, McPhail said some Valley schools are looking into doing schoolwide assessments. Certain schools have already started bullying prevention and others have expressed interest to McPhail but, so far, it is still a school-by-school decision.

McPhail said the district is trying to implement bullying education in pieces and not all at once.

"We need to make sure we are protecting the kids," McPhail said. "There needs to be some legislation put in place but you don't just rush into this all of the sudden."

Harry Gamble, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Education, said the state provides general outlines for behavior and discipline and then individual school boards have the freedom to write their own policies to address the issues.

While the Mat-Su district does not specifically address bullying in its "Students Rights and Responsibilities Handbook," it does explicitly prohibit many actions associated with bullying, including initiations, hazing, intimidation, abusive language, harassment and inappropriate physical contact.

If bullying prevention is ever to be districtwide, however, McPhail said funding for training will have to be provided. The training will likely cost quite a bit, per person, but McPhail said after the initial costs, the district could train its own staff members to sustain the program.

McPhail said the responsibility to combat bullying is not just the schools' -- parents also have a role.

"Teachers have a responsibility to educate and provide kids with a well-balanced reasoning process, but everyone has a part in raising a kid," McPhail said. "Our focus is education but there are other things that are added to the plate now."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.