CRESTVIEW — A coalition of public, private and faith-based organizations wants to end bullying in schools. But first, they will need to get their message out.
That's going to take a team approach, coalition members said.
Stopbullying.gov defines bullying as unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.
Bullying includes making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and deliberately excluding someone from a group. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place on websites, social media or mobile devices.
Many of these behaviors are crimes under state and federal law and may trigger serious consequences after age 18. Moreover, they’re rampant. In 2015, the National Center for Educational Statistics found that one out of every four students reported being bullied that year at school.
FOCUSING ON THE FACTS
To boost attention to this epidemic, Mayor David Cadle proclaimed October as Bullying Prevention Awareness Month in Crestview.
Now, coalition members said they're ramping up efforts toward that end.
Behaviors traditionally considered bullying among school-aged youths often require new attention and strategies in young adults and college students, according to stopbullying.gov.
“Bullying is an issue that we all are aware of,” Zachary Gibson, Florida’s chief child advocate and director of the Office of Adoption and Child Protection, said. “The question is what action can we take to prevent it. It takes a community.”
Gibson said family members and neighbors play key roles in providing support and guidance for children.
But first, students play a role in bullying prevention, Okaloosa County Schools Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson said.
In fact, she said, a student recently asked her about starting a bullying prevention club.
“Our children in the schools have the answer,” Jackson said. “We just have to empower them.”
Paul Ciurleo, who works with Okaloosa County Student Services, said awareness should extend throughout the community.
“There are 31,000-plus students and 39 schools in the district,” he said. “We need to get business leaders and community groups involved in helping our students.”
Ciurleo said he believes that parent, family and community involvement in education correlates with higher academic performance and school improvement.
Stephanie Peterson, a licensed clinical social worker who also serves on the Community Drug and Alcohol Council, works with students at risk for substance abuse in Santa Rosa and Escambia County schools. She said there’s a correlation between bullying and substance abuse, regardless of whether you were the bully or were bullied.
“Remember, the part of the brain that affects judgment does not fully develop until you are in your mid-20s,” she said. “There are serious and lasting effects from bullying for both the person who is being bullied and the person who is doing the bullying. For the person who does not step in to prevent bullying, they deal with guilt from not taking action.”
Denise Manassa, also with CDAC, said cyberbullying is particularly troubling these days, and the coalition plans to address this epidemic to Northwest Florida communities in the coming months.
“Our youth do not have the tools to disconnect from electronic devices,” Manassa said. “Even when they know a text message may be bad, they will read it. Cyberbullying goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Despite the challenge, many resources are available to help stop bullying and prevent youth violence. These include Stopbullying.gov, Pacer.org, MyFLfamilies.com and help within the Okaloosa County School System.
However, teaching children a certain lesson at a young age particularly helps, Phyllis Gonzalez, community development administrator with the Florida Department of Children and Families, said.
It comes down to one lesson, really, she said.
Simply put, “Bullying is not a rite of passage,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'BULLYING IS NOT A RITE OF PASSAGE' — Here's how one coalition wants to stop it