Story Published:
Feb 25, 2010 at 9:03 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Feb 25, 2010 at 9:03 PM EDT
Some kids are being bullied 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's even happening in the safety of their own homes. It happened to Phoebe Prince in South Hadley and she turned to suicide. Now schools and parents are learning to watch for new warning signs to keep children safe from other children.
Superintendent Dr. Gerald Fournier is responsible for more than 1700 students in the Palmer School system.
Dr. Fournier said, "Our number one priority is always safety for our kids."
But the Internet can make it a difficult. When kids decide to bully their classmates on Facebook, or another social networking site, it's not during class.
Dr. Fournier said, "Most of cyber bullying that takes place generally when students text or email in their off-hours at home to friends, to kids they have disagreements. And yet when that occurs the school department isn't necessarily on top of that."
That's exactly what happened in South Hadley. According to Superintendent Gus Sayer, in the last week of Phoebe Prince's life, a group of her classmates called her names and taunted her on the Internet and through text messages, as well as, harassed her at school. No one spoke up and she took her own life. Fournier said they find out about cyber bullying when it crosses into school or someone speaks up.
Dr. Fournier said, "It becomes noticeable, staff and students take action and hopefully that will lead to us to the fact it was precipitated by the Internet.
Lynn Lovell, Child and Adolescent Clinical Nurse Specialist, said "You just have to be willing to tell someone."
Lynn Lovell is a child and adolescent Clinical Nurse Specialist at Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer she said kids should never confront a bully alone, get an adult involved and don't do as bullies do.
Lovell said, "Never use aggression. Never call names."
Lovell said cyber bullying can be especially hard because it follows kids into the places they should feel the safest.
Lovell said, "All those bad kids who are bullying you are in your room, in your living room. You could be bullied by someone you don't know who they are or you might think they're someone else."
She said moms and dads need to watchful and know when to step in.
Lovell said, "Parents should look for a change in behavior, not wanting to go to school or go out, falling grades, low self-esteem."
Superintendent Fournier said he and others at school need to be made aware of those changes so they can stop a problem from being a tragedy.
Dr. Fournier said, "Hopefully, parents are aware something is a miss and share that with their counselors or teachers."
Legislation targeting school bullying just cleared a legislative committee this week and is now in the Senate for review. The bill requires all schools, public, charter and private, to develop a bullying prevention and intervention plan.
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