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Bullies Not Wanted Here
by Mel Meléndez, The Arizona Republic, November 17, 2004
Roxanne Tamayo, 9, recalled the day a group of students bullied her
while she was playing ball during lunch at Lowell School.
To bystanders, the jibes and taunts could seem like innocent child's
play. To Roxanne, the incident left an indelible impression, one
that school counselors say could scar her for life.
"They started calling me bad names," said the fourth-grader, her
bottom lip quivering. "That doesn't make you feel good. I still
remember it, and it makes me sad."
Once considered part of children's growing pains, bullying has come
to the forefront as behavior that can lead to low self-esteem,
truancy, vandalism, violence, depression and suicide. Incidents,
such as the Columbine High School tragedy, where the shooters had
been bullied, and a recent spurt in teen suicides coined "bullycide,"
highlight how the aggressive behavior has been underestimated.
At Lowell, help is on the way.
The 650-student K-8 school recently introduced the Olweus Bully
Prevention Program. Started in the 1970s, the Norwegian program has
been adopted internationally by converts who claim the program can
result in 50 to 70 percent reductions in bullying.
Under the program, students fill out an anonymous questionnaire to
assess the nature of bullying on campus, a plan is devised to focus
on the bullying "hot spots" identified by students, school staffers
are trained in support and prevention techniques, schools adopt
anti-bullying rules, and community outreach helps reinforce the
positive behaviors.
"I'm so glad they're doing this, because it helps us teach our kids
the importance of respecting others," said Olivia Ochoa, whose
daughters Olivia and Shalma attend Lowell, at 1121 S. Third Ave.,
Phoenix. "Hopefully kids are already getting that message at home,
but hearing it again never hurts."
Last week, Ochoa, a Spanish speaker, and dozens of other parents
attended a bilingual kickoff at Lowell where school officials
explained they would take the school's anti-bullying message to the
streets. Few walls on the school campus lacked posters declaring the
school a "No Bully Zone" or featuring messages on how to eradicate
bullying. Even the school's Tiger mascot sported a "Stomp Out
Bullying" note tagged to his backside.
"These posters will be posted everywhere . . . churches,
restaurants, stores," Principal Alice Trujillo said, "because
bullying will not be tolerated in our school and our community."
According to a survey by the U.S. Department of Justice, one in four
kids are bullied, an act "increasingly viewed as an important
contributor to youth violence, including homicide and suicide."
The alarming statistic prompted the Arizona Prevention Resource
Center, a non-profit state agency housed at Arizona State University
that backs research-based programs, to fund the Olweus program at
Lowell. Costs run at about $8 per student, or $5,240, senior program
director Jodi Fuller said.
"Bullying is a serious problem. Columbine showed that," she said.
"But people also need to know that bullying in children can lead to
adult aggression problems, such as domestic violence. Both are about
power and control."
Parents and other authority figures need to listen to children when
they complain about bullying, said Frank Diaz, Lowell's social
worker. Signs to look for include behavior that's intentional
harm-doing, repeated over time or doled out to students not on equal
standing, he said.
"You just can't explain the behavior away as 'kids just being kids,'
" said Diaz, who like most school social workers and counselors
often counsel bullies and their victims. "Bullying can be
devastating, because when you're told constantly that you're less
than others, you start to believe that, and that's hard to shake
even as an adult." |
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