Shining a light on bullying
The launch Saturday of the Bully Project In Greene County, BIG, put a community focus on bullying and how we respond to it. The event was attended by 26 persons including State Senator Jerry Behn, Greene County sheriff Steve Haupert and board of supervisors chair John Muir, Jefferson police chief Dave Morlan and mayor Craig Berry, and Greene County school superintendent Tim Christensen. Greene County school board member Dr David Ohrt was one of the speakers. Local pastors, Greene County Extension staff and interested members of the community attended.
The Jefferson Elks hosted the two hour program. Dave (pictured, left) and Cheryl Didericksen, Haupert (pictured, right), Deb Taggart, Emily Gannon, Teresa Lansman, Wendy Pittman, Coltrane Carlson and Mary Jo Koch comprise the BIG steering committee.
Haupert spoke briefly early in the program. “We don’t speak up often enough and say ‘this is enough.’ We don’t stand up for what we believe and do what’s right…. We have to be out in the forefront, as parents, as teachers, and just community members. We have to say this is part of society we do not like,” he said.
Mari Reynolds, family support coordinator at Access for Special Kids (ASK) Resource Center in Des Moines, told of how that agency, a non-profit agency that provides training, support and advocacy for families of special needs children, works to reduce bullying. ASK is involved because statistically, special needs children are bullied more than the general population.
According to Reynolds, 28 percent of all children are bullied. ASK’s training looks at three groups: bullies, targets, and witnesses. “When you see bullying going on and you do nothing, you’re supporting the bully,” she said.
Ohrt, a psychologist, spoke of the power and aggression that is part of all human nature, and that everyone can be either a bully or a victim, depending on how we learn to manage power and aggression.
Ohrt said we need to develop a culture that recognizes and doesn’t allow bullying. “We need to say to a bully, ‘I saw what you did. That’s not a part of our community. You need to think about it. It’s not OK.’ That’s not too hard to do, but it’s hard work to establish a community where bullying is not OK, where treating other people with respect is the rule, not the exception,” Ohrt said.
He suggested we should work to help kids who are bullied become more resilient, and work with bullies to help them manage their need for power and aggression.
Tania McAtee, regional leader in Iowa for The Bully Project, had planned to attend but was unable due to a family commitment.
The afternoon included a showing of the G-rated version of the documentary Bully and discussion of it. The documentary shows the bullying of Alex, a student at East Middle School in Sioux City, including how he was bullied on the school bus. Viewers see how school administration and his parents deal with the situation. It also tells the story of Kelby, a teenage girl in Tuttle, OK, who was harassed after she went public as a lesbian.
Copies of Bully are now available in all six county libraries. The documentary offers no solutions but can serve as a starting place for discussion.
The Saturday event was intended to begin community discussion about addressing bullying. The BIG steering committee hopes to continue to raise awareness. Watch for information about a logo contest that will lead to BIG T-shirts and more. Additionally, there will be some version of a Walk the Talk bullying awareness walk next October.
Dave Didericksen was very specific in his comments that there is no “blame” to be placed on area schools and that it is not the plan of the group to place more demands on the schools. The BIG committee sees the project as being community-based, not school-based, and hopes to use libraries to that purpose.
Christensen excited about approach: Greene County superintendent Tim Christensen after the meeting thanked the Didericksens and Haupert for organizing the event. He said the school will discuss at the administrative level, the building level and the board level what the school’s part should be in moving BIG forward.
“Since school brings students together in large groups, we are one location where bullying takes place and since we have a captive audience we also have an opportunity to educate students about bullying,” Christensen said. “Like anything else in education, we cannot be successful operating alone. The best students, musicians, athletes, etc. are supported in their endeavors at home as well as school. The school cannot address bullying by itself. I am excited about the community approach to addressing the bullying issue.”
“I think one of the biggest things we can do is to shine a light on bullying. Talking about it, educating people about it, and encouraging them to stand up,” he said.
A take-away from the launch for Christensen was Ohrt’s suggestion of an approach to bullies of “I see what you are doing and it is not acceptable.”
