ìWhen targets (of bullying) go through conflict resolution they can be put in a horrible position, feeling scared and like they are being set up. Instead, they need to be told that they havenít done anything wrong. Thatís a change in implementation and itís huge.î - Sunrise River School principal Sara Svir

By Patrick Tepoorten

Students at the Sunrise River School are seeing their school attack bullying head-on and the message, one of general respect and the need to look out for one another, is good advice both in and out of school.

When parents think about school safety, their fears likely gravitate towards worst-case scenarios like the shootings that have played out in national headlines recently. But school safety is about much more than protecting students from that scenario. It is about creating an environment in which students are able to concentrate on learning without negative social stresses with the potential to erode their educational experience.

Targets of bullying can find their education compromised by daydreams of what, or who, might lay in wait for them in the lunchroom, at recess, or other of the more loosely supervised portions of their day. At the Sunrise school, staff, with the help of students, parents, and the community, are trying to create an environment in which fear or worry is not a factor in studentsí daily routines.

To that end the school secured $3,400 in Title V funds, designed for innovative programs devised by individual districts. Based on the research of renowned bullying expert Dan Olweus, Sunrise River created an anti-bullying program called ìGet on Board, Be a Lifesaver.î So far the results have been positive. ìWeíre definitely seeing an increase in the reporting of incidents,î said principal Sara Svir.

In order to encourage students to become engaged in the issue and report incidents either as targets of bullying or just as witnesses, staff at Sunrise River worked to create an environment in which fear of doing so was eliminated. One of the ways they have done this is by creating a great deal of enthusiasm among staff for addressing the problem head on.

That enthusiasm may not have always been there, and Svir did experience skepticism from some staff early on about the validity of the program, as well as concern over whether it would take away from time spent teaching students core subjects.

But advocates of the program and results of a school-wide survey taken last school year helped bring those skeptics into the fold by highlighting the affect bullying can have on an education.

A class by class survey showed that bullying does occur in the school, and usually happens outside the classroom. But, as Svir pointed out, what happens outside the classroom does have an impact in the classroom.

ìIf you are in a science class just before lunch or recess, and all you can think about is what might happen, how do you think that affects learning?î asked Svir in a Monday morning interview.

In order to address potential problems., Sunrise River has devised a consistent protocol for dealing with reports. Forms are available to collect information from students on bullying, parents are notified right away of any problems, and incidents are classified as to severity, ranging on a scale from 1 to 4. Rather than waiting until a situation begins to get out of control, the school is contacting parents of targets and those students who exhibit bullying type behaviors right away.

Students have been encouraged not only to refrain from acting as bullies, but to stand up for classmates by reporting incidents of bullying that they witness.

ìIt is having a huge impact,î said Svir. ìThere is improved awareness, and kids now have a place and time to express themselves.î

The school has also made a significant change to how it addresses instances of bullying, especially in regards to the target of the bullying. In the past, standard conflict resolution techniques have been employed, but those techniques assume both students are equally responsible for their behavior. In the case of bullying, one student is in a position of strength while another is a target, or victim, of the other.

ìWhen targets go through conflict resolution they can be put in a horrible position, feeling scared and like they are being set up. Instead, they need to be told that they havenít done anything wrong,î said Svir. ìThatís a change in implementation and itís huge.î

Perhaps the area in which Svir is seeing the most significant changes is how bystanders treat bullying in the school. ìItís cool to see bystanders getting involved,î she noted, adding that it is becoming a common occurrence to see students standing up for each other and applying what she called ìpositive peer pressure.î

It is possible that none of these positive improvements would have come about without the enthusiasm of staff and the community though. Remarkably, it has not been in short supply. ìWeíve got it. Oh my gosh have we got it,î she said. One demonstration of that enthusiasm came from the community at large recently, when over 100 people came to school to show their support for students and the program. As the students filed out of a ìkick-offî assembly for the new anti-bullying program, parents, civic leaders, and residents lined the hallways to applaud the students. It is the kind of positive reinforcement that Svir thinks is crucial to eventually eliminating bullying from the school. ìResearch shows that when kids know they are supported at school, at home, and in the community, it can have an impact.î

At school, a 13 member committee has been formed, headed by co-chairs Kirstin Perales and Lynne Wilzbacher, and new ideas are flourishing. ìThey have worked their tails off with no pushing. They volunteered for the role and are doing phenomenal thingsî said Svir. The committee plans to look at monthly data over the course of the school year to determine the programís effectiveness and where it might be improved for future years.

If there is a weakness to the program it might be that it is thin on teaching students how to act at the moment they are being bullied. In other words, how does a student defend themselves or extricate themselves from a situation? But Svir pointed out that implementation of the program is a learning process and thought is being given to teaching students how to keep themselves out of situations in which they might find themselves cornered.

Svir, whose excitement for ìGet on Boardî is evident, expressed a great deal of appreciation for school staff, many of whom have committed time and resources to the program on their own. She also pointed out that combating bullying is a concern district-wide, and hopes that the techniques being fashioned at Sunrise River will be implemented at all schools in the district in the future. Svir also has plans to educate the educators, so to speak, by highlighting ìGet on Boardî at the annual convention of the Minnesota School Boards Association early next year.

At school students will be reminded of the importance of reducing bullying and standing up for each other once or twice a month through ìcircle meetings.î The occasional meetings last anywhere from five to 30 minutes. A different theme is employed each month with the goal of school-wide consistency. ìAll of the kids are hearing the same message,î said Svir.