District Administration - January 2011 - (Page 56)

The Politicization of Bullying neth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services.. “It’s mainstream education groups versus conservative Christians,” according to Daryl Presgraves, public relations manager for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). “The National Safe Schools Partnership, which has endorsed the enumerated Safe Schools Improvement Act, is made up of a wide range of mainstream organizations.” Gay rights advocates, who comprise an influential political constituency group, have increased pressure on President Obama to support federal legislation. The president responded with a video message on recent suicides involving gay youth, and the federal Education and Justice Departments have redefined bullying as a civil rights issue and have stepped up federal investigations of bullying complaints filed against local school districts nationwide, Trump says. The Department of Education, which along with Congress has recently eliminated $295 million in Safe and Drug-Free Schools state formula grants to school districts, is now redefining federal school safety policy and funding to de-emphasize violence and physical safety and to focus instead on bullying, civil behavior with one another, and school climate, Trump says. 56 January 2011 Sirdeaner Walker, a GLSEN board member and mother of an 11-year-old who took his life after he was bullied (but who was not identified as gay) spoke on Capitol Hill last November, supporting the Safe Schools Improvement Act and Student Non-Discrmination Act. Those sitting include Clay Aiken and Eliza Byard, GLSEN executive director (wearing tan blazer). A spate of teen suicides last year increased the fervor and political pushes for new anti-bullying laws. A number of the higher-profile suicides were reported to involve gay youth. Anti-bullying and gay rights advocates were quick to point to these suicides as being caused by bullying. But Presgraves adds that some conservative Christian groups are actually backing away from their opposition given the recent tragedies. While bullying may be one influencing factor, suicide experts agree that multiple factors come into play with suicides. Some suicide experts report that 90 percent of individuals who successfully commit suicide have diagnosable mental illnesses at the time of their suicide. Suicide experts also wonder if traditional and social media, and political exploitation of high-profile suicides, have contributed to the suicide contagion effect, in which dramatic coverage of suicides contributes to copycat behavior. First Summit of its Kind Last August, Barnes, who was then the superintendent of Sullivan County Schools, was a featured panelist at the first-ever National Bullying Summit in Washington, D.C., a two-day event sponsored by the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Steering Committee, a collaborative effort of the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, the Interior and Justice. “Superintendents need to understand this: If you get a Justice Department decree, money’s no option,” says Barnes. “They tell you what you’re going to do and they don’t care how or where you find the money. You just have to find the money. It just takes one [student to file a lawsuit].” Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who opened the conference, stated that in 2007, nearly one out of three students in middle and high school reported they had been bullied at school during the school year. More than 100 participants attempted to hammer out a national strategy to end bullying in schools. Feeling safe in school goes a long way. For example, in the Sullivan County Schools, when surveys in 2006 showed an increase in students who perceived a positive school climate, academic performance also increased. “That’s sort of a ‘duh!’ statement,” says Barnes, who just retired after 37 years in education but will continue to stay involved in helping schools combat bullying and harassment. “But if you’re a student going to school feeling safe and there’s someone you can go to if you have a problem, then your acaDistrict Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2011

District Administration - January 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Conversations
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Online Edge
Professional Opinion
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Product Focus
What’s the Value in Value-Added?
The Politicization of Bullying
Holding On to Parent Voices
Tough New Issues Refocus Health Education
New Products
Books

District Administration - January 2011