Group Aims To Reform School Bullies

Local Effort Will Dovetail With Statewide Policy

In response to a statewide crackdown mandated by last year's General Assembly, the Maryland State Board of Education plans to release a model policy next month about how schools should confront and counsel bullies.

But the Tri-County Youth Services Bureau in Southern Maryland is getting a head start on the initiative by launching anti-bullying programs in communities and schools. The organization's Community Conferencing Project facilitates meetings between bullies and their victims to discuss incidences of bullying and how the people involved are affected.

Some sessions have ended with a signed agreement outlining how the bully can take responsibility and change behavior. The meetings are not intended to replace legal proceedings in serious cases.

Bullies often don't realize how their words or actions affect people, said Harriett Nettles, who is leading the bureau's project. Learning about repercussions in a supportive environment can change the way bullies treat others, she said.

"Instead of punitive actions, we believe in restorative justice," Nettles said.

Tri-County provides individual, group and family counseling in the three Southern Maryland counties. Its staff works with families, school systems and the local departments of social services, health and juvenile justice. "We respond to local needs, especially the needs of schools," Nettles said.

Bullying -- defined by the state as any intentional verbal, physical or written conduct that creates a hostile environment -- has long been a problem, but it has taken on new life on the Internet and with cellphones, bureau officials said.

"The image of bullies on the street corner is outdated," said Laurel James, Tri-County's director of youth services. "With students on the Internet, there's another form of harassment."

The bureau's Web site, citing the National Institutes of Health, says bullying affects more than 5 million students in grades 6 through 11. In recent years, bullying has received national attention because of spikes in reports about serious incidents and suicides.

During a reception last month, local elected officials honored state Del. Peter F. Murphy (D-Charles), a cosigner of the bill that mandated the state policy on bullying.

Murphy said legislators worried about overloading school boards, teachers and principals with yet another policy. They also struggled to define bullying and said they did not want to make schools responsible for incidences that occur outside school.

Roberta S. Wise, vice chairman of the Charles County Board of Education, told Murphy that the board strongly supports it.

"We do understand how important this is," Wise said. "As a former educator . . . I have seen what does happen to kids who are bullied."

Murphy, a former teacher, said that strong, preventive policies can help not only victims but also the bullies who are at risk of being bullies their entire lives and committing crimes.

"Both lives can be ruined by this," Murphy said. The policy "is going to help the lives of bullies as well."