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Anti-bullying program works, schools say

Scott Arnold's daughter, a seventh grader, had been subjected to taunting and name calling last spring and earlier this fall by a boy on her school bus in Montgomery County.

Pennbrook counselor Jesse Clancy and students discuss bullying. The
Olweus program stresses bystander action and schoolwide training. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)
Pennbrook counselor Jesse Clancy and students discuss bullying. The Olweus program stresses bystander action and schoolwide training. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)Read more

Scott Arnold's daughter, a seventh grader, had been subjected to taunting and name calling last spring and earlier this fall by a boy on her school bus in Montgomery County.

Arnold had already started to talk to the boy's parents when new allies unexpectedly emerged.

One day last month, the girl came home from school and told him that four students on the bus had come up to her after school and "apologized for not helping out until then," Arnold recalled.

"She was thrilled. I was thrilled," he said. The bullying has stopped.

It was a small victory in a big battle.

The students got involved because a popular, internationally used anti-bullying program had been introduced that day at the North Penn School District's Pennbrook Middle School in Upper Gwynedd. The children were being taught that bystanders who witness bullying should help the victim.

That's a key principle of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, used by dozens of schools in the Philadelphia area and hundreds throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Many schools say it has made a difference.

The Clementon School District's elementary school reported a "drastic change" after it launched an Olweus program. "Our numbers were reduced," said Lynn Marcus, the school principal and district superintendent.

Started in Norway in the 1970s, the Olweus (pronounced Ol-VEY-us) program is a comprehensive, schoolwide approach, backed up by studies that show it is effective when thoroughly implemented.

Its key components are:

Training the entire school staff, all students, and parents to recognize and intervene in bullying.

Surveying students anonymously to find out where and how bullying is occurring.

Establishing rules and consequences, a reporting system, and enforcement.

Conducting frequent classroom discussions of bullying and building positive relationships among students.

A nonprofit associated with Clemson University oversees the program's dissemination, and a Minnesota company sells the program materials. The start-up cost for a middle school with 1,000 students, for example, is between $12,000 and $17,000; most expenses are one-time.

A recent spate of widely publicized news reports on suicides attributed to bullying has splashed the issue into the headlines.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey require that school districts have anti-bullying policies and name a person to whom complaints can be made. But while policies and publicity can help somewhat, experts say the numbers go down significantly only when schools put in place consistent, well-organized, long-term programs.

And those numbers are daunting. In Olweus surveys of more than half a million children, 17 percent of students after second grade were bullied two or three times a month or more for several months running.

When Pennbrook Middle School introduced its anti-bullying campaign last month, lectures and classroom activities drove home the points that would later be reinforced regularly in the classrooms.

Vermont resident John Halligan talked about the suicide of his 13-year-old son, who had been bullied for years. Halligan said that, in his view, physically confronting bullies or holding conflict-resolution discussions didn't work. He emphasized that students who observe but do not participate in bullying can stop it by standing up for the victim.

Later, the students played a game aimed at building closer ties. They worked together to get from the deck of a "sinking ship" to "lifeboats."

Another exercise, in which students had to guess which of three statements by each classmate was false - as in "I laugh easily, I am a nerd, and I play the violin" - also helped the students bond.

"We know, and research backs this up, that children who know each other well are less likely to make fun of each other and to bully or harass" others, said Nicole Yetter, a district high school guidance counselor.

The effect was immediate.

Seventh grader Jeremy Pulver told his homeroom classmates that usually "all we do is think about ourselves. We don't think about kids we're not friends with."

After a nighttime parent meeting, Crystal Weathers, the mother of an eighth grader, said that in other districts "you would get a piece of paper that says, 'No tolerance.' Then you say there's a problem, and they say, 'There's nothing we can do.' "

She added: "This is different."

Implementing the Olweus program goes far beyond one day of activities.

The whole school, from the administration to the lunch aides, receives anti-bullying training. At weekly meetings, students talk about how they are treating one another and take part in friendship-building activities.

A reporting system is put in place, and all reports are followed up on. Parents are notified if their child might be involved and are included in educational events.

The North Penn district, which has rolled out the program in its schools over several years, has more students reporting bullying, more adults getting involved, and more bystanders intervening, Yetter said.

Other area districts using the Olweus program say they see less bullying.

The Philadelphia School District was an Olweus pioneer, starting programs in 12 schools in the 2001 and 2002 school years, as an outgrowth of a community initiative to fight gun violence. A 2007 study found that where the program was well-implemented, bullying and overall violence went down.

This year, anti-bullying programs have begun in 130 kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools, with hopes of taking the initiative districtwide by June.

Ericka Washington, the district's deputy of attendance and truancy, said the new undertaking included many hallmarks of the Olweus program, including weekly classroom time for antiviolence discussions and activities to promote a positive school culture.

Some critics say the Olweus program is not effective in urban districts, where parents might not be as supportive of anti-bullying measures and where violence can be more pervasive.

"There are people everywhere who say that bullying is OK - that kids will be kids," Washington said. "It's not a city thing or a suburban thing - it's a cultural thing."

Merle Horowitz, superintendent of Marple Newtown's district, which uses Olweus in several schools, said it was working.

"My greatest pride is when students recognize the role of the bystander - that it's not OK to just watch," she said.

Radnor Middle School investigates every report within 24 hours, vice principal Toby Albanese said, adding, "We have to do that to build confidence."

The Radnor and Marple Newtown middle schools put bullying-report forms on their websites so students and parents can report problems easily and anonymously.

In Montgomery County's Springfield School District, the Olweus program, begun in 2008, was extended this fall to the elementary and middle school buses. Drivers have been trained in how to deal with problems.

District transportation director Wayne Johnston said drivers had always reported misconduct on buses. "The big difference is that now the kids are empowered to talk to the bus drivers about things they don't see."

Driver Jeanne Williams said she liked the Olweus training. The experience, she said, "made me more a part of the school community."

Stuart Green, a medical educator who is the founder of the New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention, said he was glad to see more attention paid to bullying. But he warned that "attitudes are really more important than the program you bring in, especially the attitude of the principal and buy-in from the staff."

The result, Green said, "depends on the level of ongoing commitment. It can't just be the flavor of the year."

Websites on Bullying

www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids

www.njbullying.org

www.center-school.org/ bullyingprevention

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