GCSD complements student assemblies with a parents night on bullying
In the past it might have been considered a part of growing up, but today more light is being shed on the issue of bullying than ever before.
Many schools are trying to draw this conversation into the open, and the Guilderland Central School District will be doing so at a community seminar Wednesday, May 18. Taking a Stand: A Community United to Confront Bullying and Other Issues Facing Our Youth will start at 6 p.m. at the high school and feature keynote speak John Halligan.
Halligan’s son, Ryan, committed suicide in 2003 after several years of increasingly serious bullying. Now, he tours the nation telling his story and helping groups of kids and parents understand the seriousness of the subject and what can be done about it.
He’ll be speaking to students in the middle and high schools Wednesday, tailoring his presentation to the age group he’s addressing, and will also give a PowerPoint slide show to parents that evening on how to recognize signs of bullying issues and stop them.
`My main objective is to give information to parents I wished me and my wife had before our son passed away,` he said.
It’s advised parents leave their young children at home for the evening presentation due to the nature of the topic.
Bullying is not a particularly large issue at Guilderland schools, but that doesn’t mean it can be ignored, said Demian Singleton, assistant superintendent for instruction.
`Over the course of the past year or so our district has been very actively studying this topic,` he said. `We’re pretty much right in line with national statistics, but that to us is unsettling. Our position has been if there’s one case, it’s one too many.`
Thus the idea of bringing the topic outside of school hours with the help of PTA organizations. Halligan, who has spoken at over 500 schools nationwide, doesn’t see the problem disappearing anytime soon, in large part due to the increasingly large role of technology in our social lives. For children like his son who are cyberbullied, he said, there is no respite from torment when they get off the school bus`it’s a 24/7 affair and parents should be aware of it.
`There’s been so many articles and tragic stories now, that there’s really no excuse not to be aware of it at this point,` he said.
At the GCSD, cyberbullying has been on the radar for years. Like other districts, administrators have had to come to grips with the fact the bullying isn’t truly occurring on school grounds, but can still be a major issue.
`It’s one of those very gray areas,` said Singleton. `If there’s something that’s happening online…if there is an impact on the learning environment…we will act and we will respond to that situation.`
Police and other experts are increasingly recommending that parents take a more active role in their children’s online lives, including having access to their social media accounts. If a child disappears, for example, and police need access to a Facebook page, it can take valuable hours to obtain a court order and subpoena the information.
But Halligan suggests that when it comes to all forms of bullying prevention, parents should not be naive about their relationship with their child and realize kids in trouble will often go to lengths to hide the situation from their parents.
`One of the overarching themes that I get across is to make sure your children have approachable adults in their life besides yourself,` Halligan said.
In Guilderland schools, every case of bullying is handled differently, said Singleton.
`The response, I think it varies. We’re not a zero tolerance district, but I think we’re very responsive to the unique severity of the situation,` he said.
A big part of Wednesday’s meeting will be to emphasize that this is an issue of community concern, he continued. To that end, there will be various community resources and organizations on hand, including the Capital District Psychiatric Center; the county Department of Children, Youth and Families; the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; and many others.
`Dealing with something like bullying is not a home issue, it’s not a school issue, it’s a community issue,` said Singleton. `We’re really hoping we can engage the parent community.“
