Lynn school takes on bullying

LYNN – Breed Middle School hosted its second Parent Information Night Wednesday with a focus on bullying and bullying prevention, organized by Breed Middle School PTO.Secretary of Breed Middle School PTO and parent, Adriana Garcia, says bullying needs to be strongly addressed and dealt with. “This is a hot topic right now and it concerns our children,” said Garcia. “The police force in Lynn along with school officials, parents and teachers are doing as much as possible to bring awareness to it and to prevent it.”Superintendent of Schools Dr. Catherine Latham says in order for progress in bullying prevention to occur schools cannot go at it alone. “We need everyone’s help,” said Latham. “We need the help of parents to talk to their children about how to recognize bullying and how to prevent it.”Lynn Police Officer Bob Ferrari brought attention to the new Massachusetts law about bullying and made a point to distinguish the act of bullying from conflicts or quarrels. Ferrari reminded parents that in order for an incident to be defined as bullying, it needs to be repeated towards a target (formerly known as a victim) which creates a power imbalance.The new law bans bullying in schools, on school buses and through cell phones, e-mail, social networking sites and other electronic devices and media, includes a number of provisions aimed at preventing bullying, mandates annual training for teachers and staff on prevention and intervention and requires age-appropriate instruction on heading off bullying for students in every grade as part of the school curriculum.”We are here to protect your kids, first and foremost,” Ferrari told parents. He adds that every situation of bullying will be documented and investigated.Parents and children are now capable of texting anonymous tips about bullying, or any other crime, to TIP411, with the subject prefaced by TIPLYNN and all tips will receive investigation.Ferrari also brought attention to a new part of the Harassment and Protective Orders Law, which states that if a child encounters an incident of bullying and feels like they are in a hostile environment, on or off school grounds, police enforcement now has the power to act on it.Ferrari spoke about how social networking sites and text messaging are only adding fuel to the fire and advised parents to stay nosy on what their children are doing online, who they are text messaging and what is being said.”Kids are going online to get revenge after minor conflicts,” said Ferrari, who adds that according to the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center bullying and cyber-bullying survey, 30 to 60 percent of teens have been bullied online, yet 85-90 percent don’t tell their parents because they don’t want computer privileges taken away.