Taking a stand against bullying

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October 24, 2009

Logansport middle schools implement bully-awareness program

By Jennifer Tangeman Pharos-Tribune Sat Oct 24, 2009, 10:52 PM EDT

Administrators at Logansport middle schools are saying they have had enough with bullying.

Columbia and Lincoln middle schools are starting a national program aimed at eliminating bullying.

“I don’t think Logansport schools experience any more bullying than anywhere else,” Columbia Middle School principal Greg Grostefon said. “It is a universal thing. But we are not going to take it any more is kind of the rallying cry.”

Grostefon said the schools kicked off the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program last week with a comedy program presented by Stephen and Other Dummies.

Teachers began going over the schools’ rules last year in preparation for the Olweus program.

“If you ask the kids what the rules are, they can tell you,” Grostefon said.

The four rules children are learning and reciting are, “We will not bully. We will help those who are bullied. We will include those who are left out. We will tell an adult at school and at home if someone is being bullied.”

After establishing the rules, the students started spending their first period focus class covering topics such as cyber bullying, gender issues, peer pressure, diversity and prejudice, how to handle anger in healthy ways and popularity.

Ann Easter, a Columbia Middle School essential skills teacher, has been addressing bullying with her students for about seven years. Easter said she was looking forward to adding the Olweus approach because it was backed by data.

A lot of times, her students, especially female students, do not consider their actions to be bullying, she said.

“They equate it with someone who is physically violent,” Easter said. “But things like excluding kids from groups, not talking to students and rolling their eyes need to be addressed.”

The teacher said her students had been receptive to the new program.

“We’re opening up, sharing things,” Easter said. “Most the kids do see bullying as a problem. They see it as something that needs to stop. Overall, this program just brings an awareness.”

One of the biggest components of the program is a survey administered to students every fall. Middle school students took the survey for the first time last year. Grostefon said he could not release the results, but he said he was not surprised by what he read.

“It was all kind of what I’d expected,” Grostefon said. “There was maybe a little bit more bullying going on than we know about, because not all bullying gets reported. It definitely got my attention.”

Since the inception of the program, Grostefon said students have started to tell educators when they see bullying.

“They are starting to realize that they don’t have to put up with it,” he said. “We are trying to teach the students that they have the power. The vast majority that do not bully need to bring their power to bear on the bully by not allowing it to happen.

“Bystanders need to take over and say, ‘we’re not going to stand for it.’”

Grostefon said the schools planned to use grant money to keep the program running in the middle schools for years to come.

“It’s a message that can’t hurt to be heard over and over,” he said. “We want to imbed it into our school culture.”

• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at (574) 732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.

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