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Attleboro students set to lead fight against bullies
 Students at the Wamsutta Middle School on Locust Street in Attleboro are becoming peer leaders trained to make bullying, insults and ridicule "uncool" for other students to participate in. (Staff file photo by Mark Stockwell)
Top Headlines Seventh- and eighth-grade students at Wamsutta Middle School know only too well that words can hurt as much as actions, and that rumors alone can tear down the confidence of a 12- or 13-year-old. That's why almost two dozen students are taking the challenge to become peer leaders and helping to change the atmosphere at their school for the better. The students, who either volunteered for the job or were recommended by their teachers, are undergoing several months of training to become leaders at their school. Their job is to set the tone, to lead by example and - if they're successful - to make it "uncool" to utter thoughtless insults or ridicule others. Students recently completed 12 hours of training with instructors from the Anti-Defamation League and are following that up by conducting workshops with adjustment counselors Karyn McGee and Scott Hopkinson, who are coaching students on how to deal with sensitive topics and set a positive example with their peers. Once the training and workshops are complete, students will begin holding their own workshops with peers in fifth, sixth and seventh grades. A similar program is being used in more than 20 Massachusetts schools, Principal Karol Coffin said. Students who gathered to discuss bullying and teasing issues last week said they hadn't necessarily witnessed many fights or confrontations at school, but were aware of teasing and intolerance. "People get picked on because of what they wear or who they hang out with," eighth-grader Chris Pacheco said. Ryan Semple said teens often don't think carefully before they choose a word. He said "gay" has become an all-purpose putdown used for everything from a student's choice of clothes to the music he or she listens to. Students said they were eager to volunteer for the leadership program because they want to make a difference. Hannah Valley, an eighth-grader, said the training will give students the confidence to lead by example and speak up when they hear hurtful words or cruel rumors. Hopkinson said that while students are being trained to take the high road and serve as an example for their peers, there will be times when student leaders will need to consult with adult faculty members or report a potentially dangerous situation. "This is in no way passing the buck from staff members to students," he said. Yet Hopkinson says enlisting students in the fight against teasing and bullying will help create a better school atmosphere. "Not everything that happens is within the view of a teacher," he said. While many schools sponsor mediation programs that seek to use students to broker solutions to disagreements, Wamsutta's peer leadership program is aimed at reinforcing a positive attitude so there will be less need for such interventions, Coffin said. "It's a pro-active program," she said. Coffin said she expects that besides making school a more pleasant place for all students, the new leadership program will have other benefits in the form of removing distractions and improving the learning climate. She said students will also be able to carry their experiences as leaders along with them to the high school, where they can continue to contribute their leadership skills. RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.
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pattycakes wrote on Dec 1, 2008 9:29 PM:
maggot3172 wrote on Dec 1, 2008 2:19 PM:
Not everyone has a right to act like an a$$hole. Sadly, this is what lawyers don't understand and it seems like they never will. They just go on interpreting things word for word and pretend the world is perfect when it is far from it.
This is where we fail in this country. Common sense goes right out the window. "
HARRY HINDSIGHT wrote on Dec 1, 2008 2:13 PM:
maggot3172 wrote on Dec 1, 2008 11:35 AM:
The music and video game industry has become quite an anthill that's been kicked over since I was playing Pac Man on Atari when I was a kid. Now it's out of control and, of course, lawyers conveniently defend the right to free expression.
Corporal punishment sounds extreme, but in the Army there was a famous saying: There is a difference between a corrective action and abuse. Society would do well to follow their example. It should be perfectly okay to bring some arrogant, disrespectful, snot-nosed kid down to earth where and whenever he steps out of line.
The military sent me to quite a few countries that raise kids the old fashioned way and they turn out fine. "
maggot3172 wrote on Dec 1, 2008 11:25 AM:
Kids are inherently cruel. They instinctively look at each other as different and magnify those differences---short, fat, skinny, glasses, braces, acne and so on. This is bullying's genesis. If we knew a way to make kids automatically respectful towards one another, we would have found it years ago. But in any given kindergarten, all it takes is one lousy parent who's setting an example for just another lousy kid. And the bad apple spoils the bunch because it doesn't fall far from the tree.
It's up to parents to be leaders instead of managers, but this is again perfection in a world that isn't perfect. My late mother never tolerated name-calling, elitism, or oneupmanship in her house. The one time she heard me joking about this other kid's dental head gear, she slapped me across the head and said, 'Treat others the way you want to be treated.' And that was the first and last time I ever compared myself to someone else.
Mind you, I have grown up free of any involvement with the law. Nor do I have a history of any kind of abuse or domestic violence. I grew up fine. But if we give kids a slap today for being even slightly out of line, it's off to jail. "
offended wrote on Dec 1, 2008 11:11 AM:
I should have checked my facts....The boy was paralyzed for life by being pushed down the stairs in Lynn, MA. And the text messages are easy to trace and in my case, traced and action taken, but it doesn't take away the pain of the victim.
My son goes to Wamsutta and I was very pleased with the actions taken by the principal and he's fine this year. The problem is that bullying can start with one kid, if he is popular then others follow like sheep in a herd....before you know it the entire school is against the victim and having your mother come to the school makes it worse so the victim stops reporting the abuse. Physical, electronic and verbal abuse on a regular basis can make a child physically ill. My son got punched in the face by a child that was kicked out of Hyde Park school system. Sucker punched from behind at that. I know a child that left Wamsutta because of bullying. He got slammed against a brick wall and broke his wrist. And there are many stories I've read about these poor victims committing suicide due to bullying. It's very very sad. Again, not trying to fight the fight here but I think until you are personally affected you can't understand the pain it causes. "
skeptic wrote on Dec 1, 2008 11:00 AM:
Zero tolerance is ridiculous. There is a difference in calling someone a name and beating the cr@p out of someone.
In my day, some 30 years ago, both parties would be punished for physical altercations. Verbal was hard to prove without witnesses (now some idiots have electronic paper trails).
As far as "...kids getting pushed down stairs and dying..." has that happened in Massachusetts? More kids will sustain serious physical injury in gym class or intramural sports than from bullies.
You can't protect kids from everything. If a text message comes in from someone -- you can trace it. Take the appropriate action from there. "
offended wrote on Dec 1, 2008 10:38 AM:
maggot3172 wrote on Dec 1, 2008 10:09 AM:
Even if public schools mandated all students to wear uniforms, bullying would fail to disappear. Uniforms would be a huge step, but no administrator or committee has the guts to make this argument. Kids will be kids. Getting picked on is unpleasant, but it is a part of growing up.
The "zero tolerance" mentality has got to go. In my day, schools would punish a bully and tell a victim he was in the right for standing up for himself, if he did at all. With "zero tolerance" the mentality is that both kids are wrong for fighting. This sends a blurred, hazy definition to kids that good, bad, right, and wrong are open to interpretation.
Advocates of "zero tolerance" are usually people who grew up sheltered, isolated, and had mommy and daddy take care of everything for them anyway and they've never been in a real fight or in any real danger in their lives, therefore they overlook the human aspect of things and believe that a policy written on paper will solve everything.
Let kids be kids. Schools had cliques and groups when I was a kid 20 years ago and they always will. Schools need more discipline, effective consequences, and, always, better parenting. "
hardhearted wrote on Dec 1, 2008 9:35 AM:
Can't figure why. "