Woodbury School Battles Bullying

October is National Bullying Prevention Month.

But at in Woodbury, school officials are looking beyond the incidents themselves and trying to instill the values and characteristics that prevent bullying in the first place.

The school has tapped into the teachings of late UCLA coach John Wooden as it educates parents and students about the impacts of bullying and how to deal with it. The traits being stressed for October are friendship and respect.

Bullying isn’t a huge problem at Middleton, said Tara Dahlager, a school social worker, but as students move to middle and high school, “it can get really dangerous.”

Of late, the school has focused on defining bullying—many students and parents are unsure where the line is drawn between bullying and a typical conflict between students, said Jenna Downs, a Spanish teacher at Middleton.

Bullying is repeated and intentional cruel behavior, Dahlager said. “There’s a true victim in that situation.”

While the school takes bullying seriously, this month it has also put an emphasis on the role of the bystander. There’s a tiered response, according to Dahlager: don’t go along with the bullying, walk away, report it and, finally, stand up to the bully.

But those aren’t easy options for students who might fear reprisals, Dahlager said. But by communicating those responses with students, they can police themselves to some extent.

“If we can get bystanders to do it as a group, there’s so much power there that’s taken away from the bully,” she said.

Instilling that sense of togetherness is backed by the school’s “buddy classrooms,” in which younger students meet with fifth-grade mentors once or twice a month, Downs said.

Still, bullying often happens among children of the same age—and more often lately among girls, Dahlager said. Primarily non-physical, those encounters can include exclusion, the spread of rumors or simply making fun of a student for entertainment.

When it comes to cyberbullying, schools have little control over it unless it spills onto school grounds, she said.

Teachers are good about alerting their coworkers about a potential situation, Downs said, and Middleton staff has gone through training on how to deal with bullying.

For all the work the school has put in this month, the results won’t be known until the next student survey, Dahlager said. Yet judging by cards sent home with students on how they would approach a bully, the message has hit home.

One first-grader simply wrote: Make friends with kids that don’t have them. “I thought that was really sweet,” Downs said.

Ultimately, the programs, visit from and overall emphasis on character is aimed at making students feel secure.

“We’re trying to empower the students,” Downs said.

Resources (provided by Dahlager)

• www.stopbullyingnow.com
• www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org
• www.pacerteensagainstbullying.org
• www.hazelden.org/web/go/olweus
• www.kidshealth.org