Bullying is no game
AS IF THE real thing were not bad enough, a new kids' video game called ''Bully" will hit the stores next month. The player gets to be a bully, violently attacking fellow students and even teachers. The game glamorizes school bullying -- an issue parents hear about all too often but one that schools and policymakers have failed to address effectively across the Commonwealth.
According to the Families and Work Institute's 2002 report, 30 percent of students surveyed nationwide said they had been bullied at least once in the previous month. School bullying is viewed by some as a rite of passage, beyond the ability of schools to prevent. According to the National Association of School Psychologists, two-thirds of students believe that school personnel respond inadequately to bullying.
But for those who care about successful schools and safe communities, bullying will never be merely a harmless rite, and its presence should never be tolerated. A school community's failure to stop bullying on school grounds has the immediate effect of forsaking children's ability to thrive in a safe, supportive educational environment. Bullied children are less able to concentrate, less likely to do their homework, more likely to become more disruptive in and out of class. Serious cases of bullying require long-term counseling and, if unaddressed, disrupt children's education for months or years.
Less obviously, bullying presents itself as a gateway to more serious -- and often violent -- criminal activity. The consequence of public inaction toward these early violent behaviors can be tragic. Twin brothers Daniel and Peter McGuane of Ayer allegedly beat to death Kelly Proctor after July 4th fireworks. In the days following the incident, parents and students in the community shared stories of how the brothers had spent much of their time in middle and high school bullying other students. This story is telling, and so are the statistics: Sixty percent of males who were bullies in grades 6 through 9 were, as adults, convicted of at least one crime, according to Dan Ollweus's book ''Bullying at School: What We Know and What We can Do."
As the Senate chairmen of the joint committees on Education and Public Safety & Homeland Security, we believe the underlying truth could not be clearer: Massachusetts needs a solution to bullying that focuses on early response and prevention, encourages ''best practices," and pushes schools throughout the state to confront the problem before it escalates to more serious violence. Massachusetts should join the 18 other states that have addressed bullying legislatively since 2004.
Fortunately, there are examples of positive change within the state. The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State College has proven effective at collaborating with school districts to prevent bullying. Some district attorneys have developed antibullying curriculums for school systems in their counties. Earlier this year, Attorney General Tom Reilly launched a pilot antibullying project.
These initiatives are an important beginning, but they are not enough. It is up to the Legislature to expand the programs available and ensure that schools across the Commonwealth have access to the resources they need to create a healthy school environment.
The state must do everything possible to support schools in their effort to maintain a safe and healthy place for students to learn and socialize. Any effort passed by the Legislature must help schools begin to implement antibullying programs. Clearly, schools cannot be expected to do it alone; we must also provide them with the tools -- like trainings, peer counseling, and expert advice -- to reduce bullying before it happens. Schools must also be encouraged to join in collaborations with community leaders, law enforcement, and district attorneys. Bullying affects whole communities and requires a communitywide response.
A child's experiences in middle and high school are the some of the most formative. The pressures to achieve mixed with social acceptance and growing maturity are difficult to bear for many adolescents. If we allow bullying to enter into that developmental mix, the results can be disastrous for many children. The creators of ''Bully" may think it is OK to condone bullying as an act of aggression and violence. As a society that values safe communities and a quality education for every student, we cannot.
Senator Jarrett T. Barrios is Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Senator Robert A. Antonioni is Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Education. 