Anti-bullying forum held for Swampscott parents

SWAMPSCOTT – A forum on the recent anti-bullying law was presented at Swampscott High School Thursday night for parents of elementary school children.Assistant Superintendent Dr. Maureen Bingham led the presentation, which she said was targeted for elementary school parents because bullying tends to be the most prevalent amongst elementary-aged children. She added that incidents of bullying tend to increase with age; therefore preventing bullying at its earliest point may prove effective.The anti-bullying law states that the school authority will now have to investigate and report any case of bullying at school and defines how bullying can be a criminal offense on the part of the student(s) indulging in it.Bingham referred to these students as the “aggressor.”According to the law, in order for a criminal offense to be brought, bullying must be repeated, which Bingham strongly stressed, by one or more students. Although one-time incidents may be cruel, they are not subject to school discipline. The act of bullying must be a written, verbal or electronic (also known as “cyber-bullying”) expression or a physical act or gesture or any combination thereof. The act must be directed at the victim so that it causes one or more of the following: physical and/or emotional harm, damage to the victim’s property or places the victim in reasonable fear of harm to him or herself.Bingham states that the mission of Swampscott schools is to teach pro-social behaviors and to provide age-appropriate instructions on bullying prevention, to provide school counselors and resources within school systems and the community.”Creating caring and respectful schools is a shared responsibility,” said Bingham. “We as a community need to work together on this.”Swampscott Police Detective Rose Cheever attended the forum to provide parents with further stipulations of the law. She thanked parents for attending and added that often times bullying can quickly go too far without a parent or guardian’s knowledge.Bingham, along with all Swampscott school principals, has created a District Bullying Task Force as of August 2010 that assesses needs and resources regarding bullying. The Task Force is making changes to student handbooks to further enhance bullying prevention while encouraging professional development in association with bullying and creating specific bullying prevention approaches. The Task Force will submit their documents to the Department of Education after the completion, which is expected to be in December, for approval.A female parent of a third-grade student, who wished to remain anonymous to secure her child’s identity, said that her child has mentioned bullying at home and has known instances of bullying that have occurred. The anonymous parent attended the forum mainly to learn about anti-bullying resources in the community and said that although her child has not been personally bullied; if her child ever was bullied she would want to know how to deal with it.Parents and students can send anonymous text messages to the Swampscott Police Department if they are aware of bullying (or any other crime) taking place. To do so you can text “CRIMES” at 274637 and start your message with “SPD”.Governor Deval Patrick signed the anti-bullying legislation in May 2010.Parents and students will be able to view the PowerPoint on the anti-bullying law presented by Bingham at the forum on www.swampscott.k12.ma.us to learn more.