On May 3, 2010, Governor Deval Patrick, signed into law, the new Massachusetts anti-bullying law, joining 42 other states with similar legislation. This new law was signed into place amidst significant public pressure, following perhaps one of the worst bullying incidents in our lifetime, occurring in South Hadley, MA, tragically ending in the victim, Phobe Prince, taking of her own life, drowning from the pressures of bullying.
The new legislation puts the focus back on schools and charges teachers and administrators for not only being responsible for identifying and reporting bullying, but also for developing proactive solutions in order to prevent bullying from occurring in the first place. The “bullying bill” more formerly known as ”Chapter 92 of the Acts of 2010″ reads, ” of I think that school administrators, “5(d) Each school district, charter school, non-public school, approved private day or residential school and collaborative school shall develop, adhere to and update a plan to address bullying prevention and intervention in consultation with teachers, school staff, professional support personnel, school volunteers, administrators, community representatives, local law enforcement agencies, students, parents and guardians.”
When we think about any environment, school or business, we have both detective controls and preventive controls. It is evident to me that many school administrators have focused on detective controls: ie setting up a safe environment for children to report bullying without fear of repercussion, or training teachers to spot bullying problems and defuse them before they get out of hand. The sad problem is that bullying that starts in schools is no longer only happening “in” schools. Children are bullied through new technologies: texting, facebook, myspace, instant messenger, all of which continues at home. There is no escape. And the well trained teachers and administrators can’t be expected to identify bullying if its occurring outside of school. The point is- even more important than detective controls- controls that identify bullying, are preventive controls- put in place to help create an anti-bullying culture that mitigates the risk of bullying.
2+2=5 Team*Works helps to create a culture focused on the importance of working together through teamwork, through a 10 week curriculum using team activities to develop an environment where children appreciate each others’ differences as they contribute in a team atmosphere. I’ve seen it work many times personally, and so have the teachers and principals in over 8 elementary schools in Massachusetts already. Our program 2+2=5 is a critical component for any school that wants to focus its efforts on preventing bullying rather than detecting bullying.
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