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Can bullying be stopped -- by law?


Two students discuss bullying during an activity at Lynn Community Charter School

July 9, 2001
Web posted at: 4:01 PM EDT (2001 GMT)

RESOURCE

Discussion activity for parents and educators -- Click here

From Bill Delaney
CNN

LYNN, Massachusetts (CNN) -- While many states are mandating anti-bullying programs in the aftermath of recent school shootings, Massachusetts is the first state to provide funding for such programs.

Bullying and teasing are cited as the top school troubles of students, ages 8 to 15, in a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Bullying, which has long been thought to be just a part of growing up, is now becoming unacceptable at schools.

"Teasing and bullying are known as the evaded curriculum," says Nancy Mullin Rindler of Wellesley College. "Kids know it happens, teachers know it happens, administrators and parents know it happens, but typically schools don't have a systematic way of responding to the problem."

RESOURCE

Report of the U.S. Surgeon General on youth violence

VIDEO

CNN's Jason Bellini gets the reaction from some Georgia high school students about being teased

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EXTRA INFORMATION


Lynn Community Charter School posted a list of rules to prevent bullying

The program at Lynn Community Charter School actually stems from a pioneering study on bullying done in Norway in the 1970s after a wave of teen suicides in Europe. The study led to a "Blueprint on Bullying Prevention," co-authored by Norwegian Dan Olweus, which has now been approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.

At the charter school, bullying incidents are openly reviewed each week, through workshops and role-playing. Rewards are presented for confronting bullying and learning not to bully. Five other schools in the state have adopted the new approach.

"Just changing the climate into a place where bullying isn't going to be tolerated, and where we're all going to do something about it," says Lisa Drake, the executive director at Lynn Community Charter School. "I think a number of students have turned around that way."

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

mandate	a formal order, authoritative command

aftermath	consequence or result

evade	to avoid, slip away