Antibullying specialists said school
officials have to put the safety of victims first, but they also need
to focus more on the accused bullies. Banishing them from school, they
said, is generally not the best way to deal with the problem.
“Expulsion
is not the way to go; it’s harmful,’’ said Barbara Coloroso, a
specialist on bullying and author of a number of books, including “The
Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander.’’ “Instead of coming down heavy,
they need to come up with a decent plan that holds bullies accountable,
holds bystanders accountable, and keeps the targets safe.’’
Coloroso
said schools should institute “restorative justice,’’ which supports
victims and helps them stay safe while teaching bullies about the
impact of their actions and giving them “the opportunity to make right
what they’ve done . . . to own what you did and then attempt to fix
it.’’
Recently there has been a spate of
suicides by bullied students. Students who have been bullied, then have
also bullied others, are at a high risk of hurting themselves, she said.
Dr.
Elizabeth Englander, a psychology professor at Bridgewater State
University who founded the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center,
said schools are often in a no-win situation when it comes to
allegations of bullying.
“When
their children are victims, parents want schools to be very
authoritative, take control, and remedy the situation,’’ said Englander,
whose group provides antibullying training statewide. Yet, she added,
parents also undercut the authority of schools by challenging
authorities when they discipline their children for bad behavior.
“If your child breaks a rule, they have to own the fact they broke a rule and take the consequences,’’ Englander said.
Englander
and Coloroso said it’s important for school officials to investigate
allegations of bullying thoroughly to determine the role each student
played, then try to discipline them in a way that helps them and holds
them accountable.
“I think what the lesson has to be is we have to stop focusing on the
good guys and the bad guys and that the good guys are totally innocent
and the bad guys are totally guilty,’’ Englander said. “If we want to
avoid children committing suicide, we need to connect with them to
understand what’s going on with them and help them.”
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