Albany Middle School Learns to Put the Kibosh on Bullying

Albany Middle School is taking a new approach to bullying prevention with a week-long program designed to drill in the concept that such behavior won't be tolerated in city schools.

The program is part of a month-long national effort to stop bullying, said Deborah Brill, conflict resolution coordinator for the Albany Unified School District.

Bullying, she said, is a challenge in all schools, which peaks, for developmental reasons, in middle school. One proven strategy to reduce the behavior is through consistent open dialogue about bullying and its consequences via classroom discussions, writing workshops and role plays. 

Monday, middle school students attended an assembly about the subject. But that's just the beginning.

Every day throughout the week, students will spend one class period hearing from different teachers about how they should, and shouldn't, treat their peers, Brill said. They'll watch a video on cyberbullying, and participate in a range of activities to get them to understand the serious consequences bullying can have, for both victims and their antagonists.

The school will focus on setting clear expectations for student behavior and the importance of the bystander. 

"We're working on shifting peer culture," Brill said. "Kids need to understand that it's not okay to treat someone badly. It turns out, most people who see bullying, want to do something about it, but they don't want to become a target themselves. If kids know others also think it's wrong, we think they'll be more likely to speak up."

Brill said the school also will work with students to build trust and help students understand ways to share information without fear of being called "a snitch."

The week-long exercise against bullying is part of a broad effort by Albany schools to spend more time considering school climate, safety and connection, Brill said. 

The district has started to practice a program called BEST, which focuses on positive reinforcement and emphasizes three main rules: Be safe, be responsible and be respectful. (Albany Patch will have a longer story on BEST in the next month, so stay tuned.)

This week's lessons will build on each other and culminate Friday with a faculty pledge to work toward preventing bullying, said Brill. Students will have the chance to make a commitment to address negative interactions when they see them. 

Sixth graders will make banners expressing what they've learned. Seventh graders will write poems about respect. And eighth graders will write personal pledges about responsibility.

"It could be something like, the next time somebody teases another student, you're not going to laugh," Brill said. "This will not be just a week. The week will lay the foundation for the rest of our efforts for the year."

She added that the school has no illusions that the week will stamp out bullying altogether. 

"Bullying has been around for longer than any of us have," she said. "We're not going to make it stop. But this is about how we can help kids make different choices. You're not going to have a school where no one teases anyone. But we might help kids realize why teasing often isn't funny, and to have more compassion for each other."