BAY MILLS - In an attempt to make the classrooms, hallways and playgrounds "bully free" for students at the Bay Mills Ojibwe Charter School, OCS Resource Room Teacher Jenny Jacobsen went right to the source - the students themselves. Following the "Bully-Free Classroom" booklet, a student-centered resource that allows students and teachers to have an open dialogue about bullying and then allows the students to develop different collaboration strategies, Jacobsen said she hopes to get a handle on bullying before it has a chance to spiral out of control.
"Everything is going great right now," Jacobsen said of the program, which she has been working on for a little over a month and is slated to continue with until the end of the school year. "The kids are very enthused about the program and are very cooperative. While bullying is not a major concern here at OCS, research indicates that it is a problem in most schools across the United States. I think it's good to have a prevention program like this in place, so it doesn't grow out of hand and become a problem."
In fact, research indicates that bullying is indeed a problem in schools across the country. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, which is sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 30 percent of youth in the U.S. (5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying, as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. Their statistics in a recent national survey also showed that 13 percent of students in grades sixth thru 10th, reported bullying others, 11 percent reported being the target of bullies, and another 6 percent said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves. The CDC's research also showed that when there is a school-wide commitment in place to end bullying, like the program at OCS, it can be reduced by as much as 50 percent.
According to Jacobsen, the OCS program will target kindergarten through sixth grade students. As part of the program, students will come up with their own definition of what bullying is and then work together on different collaborative activities, which could include developing collages that show how each and every student is unique and performing skits that show a good outcome to a story where a student is being bullied. It could also include something as simple as a student giving a statement over the school's PA system that says, "We have different opinions and that's okay," she said. Jacobsen added that OCS is in the process of establishing a Bullying Committee to talk about their program, draw in other resources, and then pick and choose aspects from different programs to incorporate into their own.
"What I really hope to get across to the kids is that it is okay to have different thoughts," she said. "We're all different and unique in our own way. And they should always treat others the way they would like to be treated."
