What Are the Schools Doing?
in helping create a safe environment for their students. With the culture in the classroom being so important, teachers must know how to navigate through the obstacles as well. Sharon Blackmon, Director of Training at Families Helping Families of Greater New Orleans, shares, “Each school district must provide training to all employees on bullying–how to identify it, how to report it, who the most likely victims will be, and how to appropriately intervene.” According to Jefferson Parish Schools’ website, school district employees who work with students must complete two hours of Bullying Prevention training, with new employees being required to complete four hours of training. The Vector Solutions training includes topics such as bullying basics, identifying bullying behavior, how bullying works, and effective ways to address the problem. Reports of Bullying Despite the training for administrators and students, bullying reports remain high, and many parents feel that there isn’t enough being done once the bullying has been reported.
Oftentimes, the reporting process can vary by school or parish. Blackmon shares, “Louisiana’s Bullying Prevention Law authorized the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to collaborate with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) to develop rules and regulations on bullying prevention. Reported acts of bullying MUST be investigated immediately. If parents are unsatisfied with the result of the investigation, they can appeal to the district or the LDOE.” Work to be Done There is still work to be done in our schools to help prevent bullying. In order to better help protect our students and create safer environments, Dr. Rosalynn suggests that the training needs to be better, not just for building awareness but for how to handle bullying when it occurs. She says, “It has to be handled very delicately because when it’s not, unfortunately, it gets worse. And when it gets worse, the kids who are being bullied, they feel worse. And then sometimes, we end up with
situations like Traeh’s, where they’re no longer here.” Being more aware and taking the initiative to take things a step further is work that has to be done because we can’t lose any more lives, Dr. Rosalynn adds. Cusanza agrees and shares that having an open conversation and discussing what bullying is and how you should respond if you’re the victim is important. She also notes that educating parents on the proper way to respond and the proper way to share information in a constructive way is especially crucial. “This happens a lot, so sharing what you’re seeing with the proper adults in authority is very important because then they have a trail to see the behavior that’s being demonstrated,” she says. Unfortunately, bullying is happening everywhere, and a lot of the time, we aren’t even aware of it. Holding each other accountable, reporting what we see, extensive training, enforcing positive behavior among students, and practicing empathy can move us one step closer to preventing bullying in our schools.
NOLAFAMILY.COM | SEPTEMBER 2023 25
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator