Kent City School District’s Bullying Initiatives

BULLYING IN SCHOOLS IS A PROMINENT ISSUE THAT OFFICIALS TAKE AS A SERIOUS MATTER IN ORDER TO KEEP STUDENTS SAFE. TV2’S STARR BODI HAS THE STORY.

Kent City School District Bullying Initiative from Csilla Bodi on Vimeo.

Words by Tierra Thomas

It is mandated for all school districts to have a board policy that provides an annual or semi-annual report of any reported bullying incidences in schools.

Despite only needing to list the year prior, as well as the current year, the Kent City School District website shows bullying incidents from 2012 up to 2017.

“That gives a little bit of longevity to see what these numbers mean compared to other years in the same district,” said Superintendent George Joseph.

In the 2016-2017 school year, a district total of 35 bullying incidences were reported. Theodore Roosevelt High School had the most reported with 19. The highest it’s ever spiked was back in the 2012-2013 school year.

Joseph said the numbers are relative.

“We have 1300 students (at Roosevelt), so the more students you have, the more chance of a higher number,” he said. “So, you can’t compare a 250 elementary school to a 1300 student high school.”

Randy Kline, a guidance counselor at Roosevelt, doesn’t see the numbers as negative.

“When you look at the number of cases that Roosevelt has had – I’d like to think of that in a positive way, and that means kids are reporting,” Kline said. “I really feel like we try to create the atmosphere… that students are heard here at Roosevelt and supported.”

Concept of bullying

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Education in 2014, the core elements of bullying include: unwanted aggressive behavior, observed or perceived power imbalance and repetition of behaviors or high likelihood of repetition.

Kline, who has worked with students for 16 years, tends to see more girls making reports about bullying than boys.

“What we noticed more of course (with freshman) developmentally, they’re 14 years old,” Kline said. “We notice a lot of what we call ‘drama,’ but we know in many cases is serious to those kids and the drama may include… bullying and what is that true definition of bullying.”

Impact of social media

In the Kent city school districts, they not only look at what is characterized as bullying in order to help their students.

We’re looking at intimidation and social media,“ Joseph said. “And a majority of these items are social media related.”

A 2016 report from the Cyberbullying Research Center indicated that 33.8% of students between 12 and 17 were victims of cyberbullying in their lifetime. 11.5% of students between 12 and 17 indicated that they had engaged in cyberbullying in their lifetime.

Joseph said a lot of school districts don’t believe it’s within their jurisdiction to get involved with what goes on in students lives outside of school, but that’s where their school district is different.

“Well, where we differ is that if that comment – or if that post – impacts school, even two weeks down the road, that it is an issue that is school related because it impacts instruction,” Joseph said.

Kline agrees.

“There’s a fine line,” he said. “There are lines that sometimes can be drawn or get real grey, but of course we’re not going to interfere with (the students) personal lives, but often it does spill over to their emotional attitudes here at school, which impacts learning. So, we find ourselves… having to and wanting to intervene at that point.”

Resources

All Kent City Schools, as well as the rest of Portage County, receive aid from non-profit health services such as Children’s Advantage of Portage County, Coleman’s Professional Services, Family Community Services and Town Hall.

In Roosevelt, both Coleman’s and Children’s Advantage visit the school four out of five times a week to have scheduled meetings with students who have signed up. Both services receive funding and are monitored by the Mental Health Recovery Board.

The Board, while not actively involved with students, provides training for school staff and school counselors, and also gives out information about programs to helps students dealing with mental health issues.

“We talk a lot about kindness and creating the school culture of good mental health,” said Karyn Hall, director of community relations for the Mental Health Recovery Board. “That’s part of our red flag initiative… it’s a way to identify children early when they’re having mental health issues, but it’s also to promote good mental health practices in all the schools. So, we really are trying to take a positive proactive approach.”

Joseph said that by freely keeping track and targeting bullying incidences that occur, they can reach out and help the students actually doing the bullying and also protect the victims of bullying.

For students who don’t wish to file a report, the guidance counselors honor that.

“The confidentiality between student and the counselor is held to a higher standard,” Joseph said.

Although there is no structured anti-bullying campaign yet for Roosevelt, Kline said it’s because they are still looking for solutions. Next week, the K-12 school counseling group will meet with the Board of Education to talk about focusing on mental health, as well as their roles in helping students.

“I know these are generalizations, but in terms of our whole philosophy of students taking ownership to developing student leaders, we just really believe strongly in that in this school,” Kline said.

With more students reporting bullying incidences and other students coming forward about the instances they see, Kline said he’s proud.

“It’s about students owning this building and taking care of one another… that we create this atmosphere,” Kline said.

Schools in Portage County are taking precautionary measures when it comes to bullying. I’ll have the story tonight. #JMCRPP

— Starr Bodi (@StarrBodi) March 14, 2018

Theodore Roosevelt high school guidance counselors meet monthly to research strategies on how students can cope with bullying. #JMCRPP

— Starr Bodi (@StarrBodi) March 15, 2018

Although the number is higher than other schools in the district, with more students reporting bullying incidences at Theodore Roosevelt High School, guidance counselor Randy Kline says that he’s proud. #JMCRPP

— Tierra Thomas (@TierrasPen) March 15, 2018