by Kendall Proctor ’11

As stated in Regulation 13A.01.04.03, Safe Schools, in the Code of Maryland Regulations, “All students in Maryland’s public schools, without exception and regardless of race, ethnicity, region, religion, gender, sexual orientation, language, socioeconomic status, age, or disability, have the right to educational environments that are: A. Safe; B. Appropriate for academic achievement; and, C. Free from any form of harassment.”

At Sherwood, like schools everywhere, students face harassment or bullying. However, there is ambiguity about what qualifies as an environment of tolerance and how to promote and, when necessary, enforce it. Even the difference between harassment and bullying is not obvious, despite their definitions.

According to the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Model Policy to Address Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation, “bullying is exposing a student to intentional negative actions on the part of one or more other students which adversely affect the victim’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s educational programs or activities. Harassment is perceived or actual experiences of discomfort with identity issues in regard to race, color, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or other identifying characteristics by a student which adversely affects that student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s educational programs or activities.”

Although there are clearly stated definitions of harassment and bullying, they are likely to be under-reported at school, because students think the problems will then increase. “Students are worried about being snitches. Students are worried about retaliation,” said Security Team Leader Pat Rooney. Every time an incident of harassment, bullying or intimidation is reported, a student must fill out a state-mandated form describing the situation. Rooney says this happens each time, a parent is then contacted and finally, peer mediation occurs. He has addressed four incidents of harassment so far this school year.

“The Peer Mediators are trained to be neutral, objective, empathetic, respectful and trustworthy. All these traits help in the mediation process so that the individuals in conflict arrive at the point where [they] feel comfortable to create an agreement. Hopefully their agreement will prevent the harassment from continuing,” said counselor Erin McKenna, who is the school’s peer mediation coordinator.

At a recent club meeting, several Stand Proud members cited concerns with how security deals with students removed from class for inappropriate behavior, explaining that security just quickly talks to a student and sends the offender back to class with no consequence. But other students were quick to defend security. Some students at the meeting of Stand Proud shared stories about teachers doing nothing when anti-gay slurs are used in class.

MSDE’s Model Policy to Address Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation states consequences such as suspensions, expulsions or protective orders should not be viewed as punishments designed to prevent bullying. Instead, these are means of protecting the victims by providing community containment, while positive behavioral discipline is implemented. Standard penalties include referrals, detentions, suspension and expulsion, depending on the severity of the action.

Counselors receive annual training to review the harassment policies developed by MCPS, but teachers are not offered the same options. As stated in the Model Policy, the prevention of bullying requires a concerted effort to support a whole-school bullying program involving awareness, prevention and early intervention training with students, parents, administration and school staff. Social Studies recource teacher Joe Sangillo, who is one of the sponsors of Stand Proud, wants to see training offered to all staff in the near future, which is currently being reviewed with Principal Bill Gregory.