Winchester Combats Bullying in Schools

It's something that has been around forever, but only recently bullying has become ongoing front-page news.

In Massachusetts, there have been two suicide-related deaths linked to bullying in the past year. Most recently was Phoebe Prince, a South Hadley High School freshman who hanged herself last January because of alleged months of constant bullying. Before her, there was 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover from Springfield who hanged himself in April 2009 after reported relentless bullying that accused the sixth-grader of being gay.

"There's no doubt that bullying has been a general problem and a problem in every community," said Superintendent William McAlduff Jr. "We wouldn't be truthful to anyone in town if we didn't acknowledge that bullying is an issue."

This past May, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law legislation that will try and curtail bullying in schools.

The law will require all school employees to report any suspected accounts of bullying, which will have to be looked into by the principal. It will also mandate anti-bullying training for teachers, administrators and students.

A number of policies that are being instituted under this new law have already been in use in the Winchester school district, but now they are officially recognized by the state.

"The legislation created a strong focus on the issue, which isn't a bad thing," McAlduff said. "We're putting together an anti-bullying task force and our district-wide policy should be signed within the next two months. And we've already had bullying as part of our curriculum."

"Anytime students feel uncomfortable in their learning environment it's an issue," said McCall Principal Ralph "Skip" Marotta. "Our job is to protect everyone here and to provide a safe, comfortable place for them to learn."

Under this new law, it is illegal for students to cause emotional or physical harm to one another, including text messaging and cyber-bullying.

This past spring, there was an incident at the middle school involving some sixth-grade students who reportedly used Facebook as an outlet to insult other students.

"Facebook is an invitation for both positive and negative conversation," Marotta said. "The adults need to monitor when things happen that are negative and hurtful. We need to look into who's responsible and hold them accountable for their actions."

According to Marotta and McAlduff, the school district doesn't have one specific punishment for bullying. The repercussions vary depending on the incident and the student involved. Most are resolved with a meeting, but it can escalate to suspension, and eventually the involvement of the school safety officer and the police department.

Both agreed bullying is not a major problem in Winchester. And Marotta was quick to point out that not every incident is necessarily bullying.

"These are good kids," Marotta said. "It's important to remember that they're only 11, 12, 13 or 14 years old. They're going to misspeak, and not every misspeak is bullying. We have to monitor the hurtful comments and respond to them appropriately."