SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - In march, Governor Gary Herbert signed into law a new anti-bullying bill that makes it illegal to bully students and school employees at any time, or any location, even online. Experts say, the law alone may not be enough and changing school culture could be the better solution.
Globally and locally, there are numerous highly visible examples of bullying. An 8th grader was targeted at Olympus Junior High; he was kicked punched nine times before someone finally stepped in.
Dan Olympia has been studying bullying for nearly a decade. He is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. He says it is not uncommon for some personalities to encourage bully behavior.
"There are individuals that will encourage the activity," said Olympia. "There's again a certain sense of anonymity that occurs in a crowd where people are emboldened to do things that they would not ordinarily do."
Olympia says the same mentality also leads to bullying behavior online.
"This is really a new dimension to bullying which concerns a lot of people in education," he said.
That's because Olympia says no matter where bullying occurs, the effect is felt in the classroom. Utah laws now encompass cyber, physical, and social bullying. Olympia says it gives educators and parents remedies when it occurs, but he says prevention is the key.
Isabella is a student at Daybreak Elementary school. Her school has implemented the “Bully Blockers” anti-bully program.
"The school does a lot to help us so we don't get bullied and so we can stand up for kids that are bullied so it makes our school a better place for education," said Isabella.
The anti bullying program consists of in-class lessons, developed at the University of Utah, taught by the school psychologist. They are year-round, and ten to fifteen minutes in length on various topics such as diversity, kindness, and culture. While the Bully Blockers program teaches children valuable social skills, it also teaches them what bullying is, and what it is not.
Sarah Robbins is the Daybreak School Psychologist and teaches the anti-bully curriculum. She says defining bullying is an important part of stopping it. She defines it as intentional, one sided, and repeated.
Maya, a fifth grader at the school explains it like this. "If they do it once, you kind of like let it fly, but if they do it again you go tell somebody."
Telling a trusted adult is just part of the coping strategies taught at Daybreak. Robbins says the program gives kids tools to cope with bully behavior.
"We teach the kids not to give the bully a reaction because we feel it's the reaction that drives bullying that's what makes it fun for the bully so the child even if they have to fake it try to stay calm," said Robbins.
They also teach children how to react with humor.
At Daybreak and the other schools who have adopted the anti-bullying curriculum, children are taught that bullying is not fun, or acceptable. "The entire school tries to create a culture where this kind of behavior is not tolerated," said Robbins.
The lessons learned at school are also expected to translate online, but Robbins says that's where parents come in. "What are they doing on the computer? What are they posting as far as personal information and are they posting things about other kids?" said Robbins. She says kids of all ages have facebook accounts and are having conversations about bullying and she hopes some of those are with parents.
"Don't be afraid to talk to your kids about it. They might be afraid to talk a parent about it," said Robbins.
Because kids may not talk, Olympia says it's important to watch their behavior.
"If they seem like they are isolating or they want to avoid school or they come up with kind of the chronic stomach aches and headaches as an excuse to stay away from school it's really a red flag," said Robbins.
Principals who use the Bully Blocker program have reported a significant decline in the number of disciplinary problems in their schools. Bully Blocker is just one of several anti-bully programs currently being used in schools throughout Utah.
Research is now underway to see what is most effective at stopping bullying behavior.
To watch the entire short from the Bully Blockers program go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcFICCVWliY
