Common Sense on Bullying

There may never be a way to end bullying in our schools, but the Newport-Mesa Unified School District is taking sensible action to rein it in and get to its roots.

A policy adopted recently by district trustees states that bullying of any kind, physical or verbal, will not be tolerated in the district’s schools. The explicit prohibition did not come as a result of the recent campus shootings at the suburban Santana High School near San Diego. It was developed over a period of many months by staff, teachers and parents as a response to a local incident last spring in which one student choked another, sending him to the hospital.

Significantly, the district appears mindful that merely legislating behavior or applying a one-size-fits-all response will not work. Just as important as what the district’s newly worded policy says it will not tolerate is what the policy doesn’t state.

The policy says schools will not tolerate gestures, comments, threats or actions that cause or threaten to cause bodily harm or personal degradation. However, the district doesn’t include the bullying policy in the zero-tolerance rules governing weapons, drugs and alcohol on campus. That’s a critical, common-sense distinction.

Under the zero-tolerance policies enacted in the mid-1990s, schools began suspending and expelling students over alcohol, drugs or weapons offenses--no matter how minor. There was no leeway or common sense applied. For instance, in Orange County a 5-year-old boy who found a disposable razor blade on the way to school showed it to other youngsters on a school bus. He was transferred to another school after the bus driver reported him to school officials. In another case, several students were transferred out of their school after drinking some champagne at a picture-taking gathering at a family’s house before a high school winter formal.

Other incidents across the country spotlighted the problems with the absolute rules. These included the Boy Scouts in Seattle who were expelled for accidentally taking their Scout knives to school and students punished under inflexible rules for being caught with Tylenol or aspirin.

Some school districts in Orange County have the same concerns about overreacting and are scaling back blanket enforcement. Others, such as the Brea Olinda Unified district, have junked the zero-tolerance approach for more flexible rule enforcement.

Newport-Mesa, through its own experience, wisely recognizes there is too much gray area in the bullying issue to have a rigid approach, particularly when it comes to verbal incidents.

Other districts that might be in a rush to put bullying incidents in the same zero-tolerance category should realize that too.

In Newport-Mesa schools, each bullying incident will be judged individually on its specifics, and punishment could range from a warning to transfer, suspension or expulsion.

The district also plans to provide counseling for the aggressor as needed, as well as for the victim. The goal is to change behavior rather than only punish it.

The Newport-Mesa experience bears watching by others in the county. How much bullying is controlled and prevented will depend in part on how wisely the staff, teachers and students implement it.

District officials have sent a message, and it could be a valuable step in helping make their schools safer. In the end, however, there is no substitute for the important work of parents, family members and others in preparing students by teaching good behavior at home.