“Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you.” At the bullying presentation held on Thursday, April 10, Dr. John H. Hoover drew a big line through this statement indicating that the famous quote is not true. In fact, Hoover explained the opposite usually happens at school, where students can be bullied through words and name calling. To educate parents and teachers about the problems that bullying can cause, Dr. Hoover was invited by to speak in Kimball. The event was sponsored by the T.A.G. parenting group and District #739. Hoover started studying and researching the topic of bullying in 1988. He presented some of his findings and solutions to combat the problem. “Bullying is the intentional injuring of one person by another,” explained Hoover. “The damage can be physical or psychological.” Hoover indicated that bullying usually starts by teasing and comments made at the elementary level. In most cases, it becomes more severe when students approach high school. According to Hoover’s studies, students said the years they felt most bullied were in sixth, seventh, eight and ninth-grade. One of Hoover’s suggestions was to try to stop bullying in the elementary school level, as a hope of preventing more serious bullying during the middle school years. “The little nastinesses can produce big problems,” said Hoover. Kimball Elementary School principal, Jon Clark said the elementary school currently has a system in place to deal with bullying issues. If a student is seen bullying or misbehaving, he or she is brought to the principal’s office to discuss the issue. As a source of discipline, a student may lose privileges or may be asked to talk through their problems in hopes of stopping the behavior. Clark said, “We always feel that the elementary school is the area we need to tackle the bullying issue because behaviors continue. We want the students to learn the right behaviors here and correct bad behaviors before they get serious.” Hoover indicated that this is the best prevention tactic to serious bullying in later years. He said through violence reduction programs, violence rates in schools have decreased over the last ten years. One method Hoover recommended when dealing with bullies was a new mediation technique. He said conflict mediation usually does not work in bullying situations, because it requires both parties to feel equal. In a bullying situation, the bully has power over the victim. As an alternative, Hoover said both parties must be worked with first. The bully must be taught how to feel empathetic to the victim and taught that bullying behaviors are wrong and will not be tolerated. Conversely, the victim needs to be built up and taught to be assertive. Then, the parties can be brought together to face the problem head on. “These methods really work,” Hoover reinforced. Consequences of bullying Both the bully and the victim are affected by the act. Victims tend to be affected in five different ways. They may have trouble making friends, bring the bullying experience home to cause familial problems, may feel physically sick experiencing head and stomach aches, can feel bad emotionally, and may have problems learning at school. It is common for victims to feel that their whole lives in school are shadowed by the bully. Many times, victims do not want to go to school. Hoover explained that on average, ten percent of students are severely bullied. While being a victim is difficult during the school years, research has shown that victims tend to do fairly well in adulthood. Dr. Hoover didn’t have specific answers on why students choose to bully others, but he did explain the consequences of bullying. He indicated that bullies have a harder time in adulthood. “It is estimated that bullies are five times more likely to end up in the criminal justice system,” said Hoover. He also said, “Being a bully in fifth grade is the best predictor of being a high school drop out.” A help line for victims Dr. Hoover offered some suggestions to stop bullying. Included in his proposals were better supervision during recess and lunch, or other school areas where students feel bullied. He also suggested having common classroom rules with consistent but gentle consequences. “Involving students and parents outside of the classroom, by attending meetings like this also helps.” Principal Clark reiterated that students in District #739 are always encouraged to speak up if they feel that they are being bullied. He said students should talk to supervisors and teachers if there is a problem. Collectively, District #739 hopes that each student can find someone they feel comfortable talking to about these problems. While, Hoover’s message was well received by the audience and the many district staffers that attended the event, it will take much more to combat the problem. As principal Clark said, “It’s an issue that we all need to be involved with, including parents, staff and school administrators. We need to make sure that our school are places that kids want to be.” Dr. Hoover set up a special Web site to provide more information on school bullying. The site can be viewed at www. hoovbully.blogspot.com.
