By Kristal Dixon
Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer
Cherokee County School District schools are fighting back against bullying by using a program that encourages witnesses to intervene.
Crimes related to bullying are on the decline, according to the district, with 25 fights last school year as compared to 31 the year before. Because bullying is handled as a disciplinary problem, official numbers aren't recorded, but can be tracked through crimes, like fighting, that stem from bullying.
An anti-bullying program developed by Swedish doctor Dan Olweus (pronounced Ol-vey-us), considered to be a leading researcher on bullying, is being used in several local schools.
The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program focuses on four components of bully prevention, according to Letitia Cline, principal of Boston Elementary School in Woodstock.
"It's a great preventative model that makes adults aware of what's going on," she said.
According to the Olweus Bully Prevention Web site, for the first component, schools should create anti-bullying committees, train teachers and staff and conduct anonymous surveys of students to get feedback on bullying methods.
The second component, called the classroom level, dispatches counselors to classrooms to talk to students about what bullying is and its effects.
The third, the individual level, involves intervening with the bully and the victim. This level also calls for bystanders who witness bullying to take a more proactive role in preventing bullying behavior.
For the fourth component, the community is to have meetings with community leaders and to incorporate antibullying efforts in recreational activities.
The main purpose of the Olweus method, according to Jeff Bennett, a counselor at Etowah High School in Woodstock, is to empower bystanders and not to focus on the bully.
"Students can take the power away from the bully by focusing on helping the victim," he said.
Etowah High's Character in Action student organization, which focuses on helping youth build character, recently performed an antibullying skit based on the Olweus program at Boston Elementary.
"It was neat to watch the elementary students open up about bullying to the high school students," Bennett said.
Woodstock Middle School, which is in its second year of using the Olweus program, has seen a turnaround in students reporting bullying incidents.
"It's going well," counselor Donna Ratliff said. "We've definitely seen an increase in the number of students who are reporting."
In addition to completing the four components of the program, Woodstock Middle has partnered with the Woodstock Police Department to prevent bullying,
"Whenever they have time, two officers come to the school and observe," Mrs. Ratliff said. "They don't take an active role, but they do make their presence known to students."
While the traditional bullying methods, such as gossiping, exclusion and name-calling are a part of school culture, a few cases of cyber bullying has spilled over into schools.
Cyber bulling is defined as students using technology to carry out traditional means of bullying. For example, students may leave degrading comments on a student's page on MySpace or Facebook, which are social networking Web sites.
Students also may threaten other students through the use of instant messaging programs or e-mail.
"We've had sporadic incidents where we've had to deal with the fallout of something that was said on MySpace," said Freedom Middle School Principal Karen Hawley, whose school also uses the Olweus program. "But we realize we aren't immune to it."
Ms. Cline said while cyber bullying isn't a problem at the elementary school level, they are working to prevent all cases of bullying.
Every Monday, students and teachers say its "Boston Bears Say No To Bullying" pledge, which has four rules: not to bully others; help other students who are being bullied; be inclusive to all children; and to tell a teacher or other adult if someone is being bullied.
The success of the Olweus program, according to Bennett, can be attributed to students taking an active role in preventing bullying.
"Students are teaching one another about bullying," he said. "I believe that learning comes from teaching and students won't learn unless prevention is put into action."
kdixon@cherokeetribune.com
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