The trouble began when the boy and girl were in the fourth grade at a Montgomery County public school. The two sat at the same table and the girl would repeatedly kick the boy.
The teacher intervened and the girl backed off. But in fifth grade, the girl revived her harassment. “Why does she hate me so much?” the boy would ask his mom.
Now the two are attending different middle schools and it would seem the boy would be free of his tormentor. But that’s not the case. The girl somehow got the boy’s school email address, opened a temporary account and sent the boy a message graphically detailing how she planned to kill him.
The mom went to the police. Officers intervened after identifying the girl, who was heard talking to friends about the email. Meanwhile, the boy has nightmares about what the girl will do to him if he runs into her.
Bullying incidents, even if they aren’t as serious as this one relayed by a friend of the boy’s family, are far too common in MCPS schools and nationwide.
That’s why county and MCPS officials are joining together to hold “Bullying in Schools: A Community Symposium on Prevention and Intervention Strategies” from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Silver Spring Civic Center at Veterans Plaza.
The free forum is sponsored by the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights and the Committee on Hate/Violence. The event will be moderated by County Council member Valerie Ervin and U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Chairman Martin Castro will be the keynote speaker.
Panelists are expected to include MCPS officials and representatives of the National Association of School Psychologists, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Gay-Straight Alliance of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. Youth advocate Johnnie Williams will also join the panel discussions.
Expected to represent MCPS are Dr. Gregory Bell, supervisor of diversity initiatives, Dr. Brenda Wilks, director of the student services department and Tracy Oliver-Gary, a social studies teacher at Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville. In 2011, Oliver-Gary was one of five teachers nationwide to receive the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Bullying can come in many forms and often may not be noticed by adults. According to MCPS, 436 bullying incidents were reported in the 2010-2011 school year and 417 of those incidents were confirmed by school officials. Results from school surveys that year show that about 53 percent of the nearly 52,000 students completing the survey question thought that bullying is a problem in their schools. Just under 31 percent of more than 17,000 parents who answered the question agreed.
Because bullying can be so insidious, MCPS schools focus throughout the year on teaching kids how to recognize bullying and what to do if they become victims or see others being bullied.
Anti-bullying workshops are a common feature on school activity calendars. For those who miss Saturday’s symposium, the MCPS Parent Academy on Feb. 15 will present “An Innovative Approach to Anti-Bullying Presented by Rockin’ the Rage Inc. The non-profit charitable organization’s mission is “centered on creating a national paradigm shift towards refocusing attention on kindness,” according to the Rockin’ the Rage website.
That event will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring. The workshop is free and childcare will be provided.
