The South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) announced their Bullying Prevention Initiative Tuesday in an effort to stop bullying in our state.
“There has been an increase in the amount of bullying instances reported and we really need to make sure there is awareness and training programs to the school a safe school,” said Molly Spearman of the SC Association of School Administrators.
S.C.A.S.A is teaming up with the Hazelden Foundation, the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University and the South Carolina Department of Education to implement a new program to fight bullying.
The partnership has received an $11.5 million grant to introduce the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in schools across South Carolina.
OBPP is geared to students in grades 1-8 and will be used at the classroom and individual levels. The Hazelden Foundation is based in Minnesota and has begun partnering with other states to bring evidence based programs and practices to prevent bullying related issues.
“It’s about time we really need to provide school districts with the kind of support that’s needed to overcome the problems of bullying,” said Research Asst. Professor Clemson University Dr. Joyce Ott.
In the program, administrators and teachers will be taught strategies to improve peer relationships and make the classroom a safer place.
“It’s a matter of getting the word out that is much more research based like how prevalent is the problem what kind of bullying occurs and how best to address it at the school level,” said Ott.
S.C.A.S.A announced the initiative at their annual Summit on Bullying in Columbia Tuesday. The conference featured national bullying experts speaking on cyber bullying, school bus bullying and dating violence among others.
Spearman says with the internet now playing such a major role in student’s lives inside and outside of the classroom, bullying can now happen online as well. She said the issue is fairly new and harder to control.
“It’s a tough issue. Our students are digitally smart but they may not be using digital wisdom. It’s also an issue parents may not be aware of,” said Spearman.
About 300 school administrators, guidance counselors, transportation directors and community members attended the event to learn new strategies to help prevent bullying. Spearman said there were also some teachers and students listening in on the conference.
The program will reach out to parents and the community to educate them on how to see warning signs and how to stop bullying when they see it. The money will be given over 3 or 4 years and four schools have already been selected to pilot the program during the next 2 years.
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