Campus cruelty

Bully: A person who purposely hurts, intimidates, threatens or ridicules another usually more vulnerable person, especially repeatedly.

Mention the word “bullying,” and you’ll undoubtedly get reaction from opposite ends of the empathy spectrum. There’s no middle ground on the subject.

For most adults, the word/act evokes impassioned rage, at best, or at least a disgusting shake of the head as they wonder how something so reprehensible continues to be tolerated in a civilized society. At the opposite end of the gamut, however, are those who encourage it and defend it as nothing out of the norm. It has become rationalized, appropriate behavior made mainstream by, of all things, emboldened political candidates.

For children, they are likely either the bully or the bullied, or classmates who stand by and allow it to happen.

The bully isn’t a bully by accident. It’s taught. It’s encouraged and rationalized. It’s environment. It’s cruel.

The bullied can be just about anybody, but are often vulnerable. They didn’t ask to be bullied — although the bully will surely disagree — and all they want is for it to stop. Survivors might experience PTSD, and might never recover.

Among the classmates who allow it to happen, there are probably some who are conflicted or ambivalent, or those who’d like to intervene, but are fearful of being the next target of the bully’s wrath or of subsequent social exclusion.

Bullying can be overt and physical — probably the first imagine that comes to mind — or, in the case of cyberbullying, clandestine and empowered by anonymity.

Sallisaw superintendent Steve Barrett says a safe and secure learning environment is vital for students to thrive.

“Sallisaw schools are committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for all students to learn, grow and thrive. Bullying is a behavior that contradicts these principles and has far-reaching adverse effects on individuals and the overall school climate,” Barrett says. “We prioritize ensuring every student feels supported, valued and empowered to succeed. We provide numerous resources for students, parents and staff to address bullying-related concerns.”

For the 2023-24 school year, Sallisaw Public Schools has implemented several strategies to combat bullying and violent behavior at school:

• Strategy 1— Visual campaign to include posters and other media focused on our new initiative of “See Something, Say Something”

• Strategy 2 — Creation of an online, anonymous tip line within our school communications system that allows students and parents to report incidences of bullying and possible violent behavior towards other students

• Strategy 3 — Parent input nights that include scenario-based conversations on how to prevent and respond to bullying and threats of violence

• Strategy 4 — The inclusion of anti-bullying lessons incorporated into our classroom guidance structures “We firmly believe that prevention is vital in combating bullying. Our school has, and will continue to implement, various strategies to foster a culture of respect, empathy and inclusivity,” Barrett says.

“Consequences for the perpetrators will be administered according to the school’s code of conduct and anti-bullying policy. As a district, we have elevated our discipline procedures to allow for severe consequences for non-mutual occurrences such as bullying, assaults and aggressive behavior,” Barrett says. “School and student safety requires a collaborative effort from parents, guardians, teachers and the community at large. We urge parents to engage in open conversations with their children about bullying, monitor their online activities, and encourage them to be empathetic and respectful of all individuals.”

Central Public School

David Eads, in his first year as superintendent at Central Public School, echoes Jasna’s sentiments, and is confident all county schools are in compliance with state procedures for dealing with bullying.

“I am quite certain other districts take bullying as seriously as we do at Central Public School,” Eads says. “We do not tolerate bullying, and follow our policies and procedures in regards to this. As with other school districts in the county, our goal is to ensure each student feels safe while they are in our school system.

“Our various policies — on bullying, hazing, investigation procedures, bullying and/or harassment reporting policies and procedures — can be found on our district website, and are also included in our student handbooks.”

Eads also says eliminating bullying begins at an early age.

“In our elementary grades, we use the theme ‘kindness.’ We promote kindness and the spreading of kindness in hopes of eliminating or reducing bullying by encouraging the students to make a conscious effort to be kind to others,” he says.

Eads says Central is compliant with regulations provided by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) that require schools to adopt bullying policies and follow certain procedures. He says the majority of schools use OSSBA policies. As laws are updated or passed during each legislative session, the OSSBA updates policies or creates new policies for any new laws that are passed. Oklahoma public schools then adopt their policy revisions.

Oklahoma schools are required to adopt and provide a report form to be filled out by individuals who believe they are being bullied. Schools are also required to designate a person as the “investigator” for these complaints, and any information from the investigation are kept on file. If bullying is determined to have occurred, the district administrator deals with the situation and levies or disperses punishment and other corrective actions. These actions and/ or punishments can include, but are not limited to, suspension, detention, the change of class schedules, counseling, etc.

Muldrow Public Schools

At Muldrow Public Schools, superintendent Clifta Fugett confirmed that student safety is paramount, and that fostering a relationship of cooperation with entities dedicated to student success is vital.

“We, at Muldrow School, understand that students must feel safe, first and foremost, before their academic needs can be met,” Fugett says. “Teachers and staff are trained to understand and recognize the many different faces that bullying can take, as well as ways in which we can alleviate it.

“A working relationship between school, community and parents is paramount in ensuring that Muldrow School provides a safe and secure environment for students to grow into successful young adults.”

Roland Public Schools

Students, regardless of their age, are on a growth journey throughout their school career, and must learn what is and is not appropriate behavior. To that end, superintendent Lori Wiggins and her staff pursue evidencebased curricula that helps students develop life skills and become productive citizens.

“Roland Public School wants all students to feel safe in our care. Unfortunately, school-aged children bully, whether intentional or unintentional,” Wiggins says. “Cognitively speaking, this is an age-appropriate behavior that serves as a learning opportunity for growth in emotional intelligence. With that being said, bullying is reported to teachers, counselors and building principals. The students are educated that the behavior was considered a bullying incident, along with what future consequences that type of behavior could cause to themselves and others.

“Roland Public School provides an evidencebased curriculum that helps the students to grow in their emotional intelligence. Our counseling department recently received a grant and was able to purchase the evidence- based curriculum that helps further the mission that instills life skills and being a productive Ranger and citizen of their community,” Wiggins says.

Vian Public Schools

At Vian Public Schools, superintendent John Brockman says reporting bullying can be anonymous by using the bully button on the schools’ website home page, or can be reported to an administrator or middle school counselor Danielle Brockman, who is the school district’s bullying coordinator.

“After the report is made — they’re all investigated — the principal and the counselor will investigate it and see what they can find out, if bullying has occurred. If it has occurred, then depending on the severity of it, how long it’s been going on, there’s several factors, we’ll go into the discipline. Discipline can be from maybe a warning to after-school detention, and can work its way all the way up to a long-time suspension, if it warrants that, if it’s been a continuing behavior,” the superintendent says.

“There’s always some bullying, but most of it never gets to the point of a long-term suspension. It’s usually handled by educating the kids, talking to them and getting it straightened up that way. The vast majority of it is handled that way.

“Kids can say stuff that they may not consider bullying, but the other person takes it as bullying. It does happen occasionally. And our kids know we’re not going to tolerate it. The main thing we see more and more of in school is the social media stuff. If it disrupts the school day, it (social media) can fall under us,” Brockman says.

“There’s a pretty lengthy process. It’s investigated and students are talked to. The first time, you hope that by talking to them, it stops it, and the majority of the time it does. It’s when it continues again after the first, initial time that it’s been addressed is when discipline will occur.

“It’s normally handled internally, unless when there are threats or something like that, of course, then it will go to law enforcement. We’ve never had one get to that point, but law enforcement could be called in in that instance,” the superintendent says. Bullying occurs in all age groups and is investigated regardless of grade level, Danielle Brockman says. She encourages the more than 800 students in the Vian school district to use the bully button, which she says is collects information about any bullying incident, and provides the opportunity to identify the bully.

“This has been a very valuable tool for our district,” the school counselor says. “We receive these referrals, which are anonymous unless the person puts their name. We investigate each report we receive.”