Bullies beware: Sutherlin’s watching

SUTHERLIN — Every staff member in the Sutherlin School District can recall incidents of bullying.

They were targets, bystanders or bullies themselves. A man recalled how he felt when a group of boys pulled an unpopular kid’s pants down in front of all the girls. One woman quit school after posters with vicious rumors showed up all over her school. Another remembered being called a slut even though she didn’t have a boyfriend.

“These stay with us,” said Adrienne Valdez.

She came to Sutherlin along with Phil Johnson and Barbara Gornick as part of the National Education Association’s Bullying and Sexual Harassment Prevention and Intervention Program.

The district chooses a different topic for its annual in-service. Superintendent John Lahley said bullying was a natural choice after last year’s discussion and implementation of the Positive Behavior Support system.

Sutherlin hasn’t had many problems with bullying, Lahley said, and the training is for prevention.

“We don’t want it to be an issue,” he said.

Craig Stinnett, a history teacher, said Sutherlin High School has isolated incidents of bullying.

“I think we’re just your typical high school,” he said.

Stinnett and other staff members came to the Thursday morning’s opening session hoping for help with everything from cyber-bullying to exclusion to establishing consequences.

Valdez was glad to see the whole staff, not just teachers.

“It’s fabulous that this school district had the insight that they realized they need to include everybody,” she said.

Before the staff could talk about solutions, they had to define bullying and sexual harassment. It wasn’t easy. Out of 20 questionable behaviors, staff only agreed that a few, like calling someone “Fatso,” were always crossing the line. Others, like sending a love note, depended on the situation.

How to beat bullying Bullying is defined as systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt and/or psychological distress on one or more students. There is an imbalance of physical or psychological power with the bully actually being stronger or perceived to be stronger than the victim. Tips for parents of bullied children: • Keep a written record of all bullying incidents that your child reports to you. Record the names of the children involved, when and where the incidents occurred and what happened. • Immediately ask to meet with your child’s classroom teacher and explain your concerns in a friendly way. • Ask teachers about their observations. • Ask the teacher what will be done about the bullying and set up a follow-up appointment. • If the situation doesn’t improve, talk to the principal. • Keep notes from your meetings. • Give the school reasonable time to investigate. • Consider involving the police if your child has been physically assaulted or seriously threatened. Information: www.StopBullyingNow.hrsa.gov SOURCES: The National Education Association and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration

Staff also had to deal with misconceptions about bullies. Many were surprised that researchers believe bullies don’t have low self-esteem. In fact, they usually have a good opinion of themselves, and they don’t feel remorse for what they do. What they’re lacking, Valdez said, is empathy.

Many people believe kids should work out their own problems, but Valdez doesn’t believe that works with bullying, where one person is weaker than the other.

“If they could work it out themselves, they would have,” she said.

Johnson described a campaign that would influence the school district and community.

The first step is a survey to find out where the problems are. Then the school should hold a conference of students, parents and community members. Schools also have to change their environments, creating standards and consequences for bullying, and they have to get commitment from staff, parents and students to make the plan work.

Thursday afternoon, the staff did activities examining bullying in their schools and using anti-bullying curriculum.

This morning they talked about how to integrate what they learned into a plan for the district.



• You can reach reporter Teresa Williams at 957-4230 or via e-mail at twilliams@newsreview.info.