Community Conversation On Bullying Begins

By Eliza Hallabeck

Roughly 60 people participated in the first meeting of several meetings for a community conversation on bullying on Saturday, January 31, at Reed Intermediate School.

After members of the Newtown public school system and members of the Newtown Prevention Council applied for a grant from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, the district was awarded $2,500 to hold meetings to further the discussion on the topic of bullying.

“There’s been a lot of groundwork up to this point,” said Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Gejda, who has had previous involvement with community conversations and the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund in school districts she has worked for in the past, “and we’re just looking to expand on that.”

The 60 gathered community volunteers first discussed the topic of bullying, then broke up into teams to further highlight concerns, problem areas and points the community can strive for. After the groups returned back to the whole group, Reed Intermediate School Assistant Principal Anthony Salvatore lead the discussion, and one-by-one the individual groups presented what their group had discussed.

Originally 100 people were asked to volunteer to participate in the event, and for the next community conversation meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 5 from 6 pm until 8 pm, more people are asked to volunteer their involvement. The next meeting will include dinner.

Dr Gejda said the purpose of the community conversations is open ended, and to offer an environment where people can bring their opinions and share them.

“This has to be an ongoing process for us,” said Dr Gejda. She continued to say that education in ongoing and, “We need to keep educating ourselves.”

Baked goods for the meeting were provided by students in the after-school program at Newtown High School TAP, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Bagel Delight. Other food for the meeting was paid for from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund.

Nancy Polk, project manager for the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, attended the meeting on Saturday, and said she witnessed wonderful caring people during the morning event. She also said she has worked in roughly 95 communities.

“Bullying is a problem or concern for every community,” said Ms Polk.

Dr Gejda said the school district in Newtown has already printed helpful information about bullying for parents in the district’s Parent Toolkits, which are available online at the district’s website, www.newtown.k12.ct.us, and are given out every school year.

Student handbooks in the district also already include information on bullying, such as the NHS student handbook which reads in its bullying section, “The purpose of this policy is to maintain a safe student-learning environment that is free from bullying.”

It goes on to define bullying as “any overt acts by a student or a group of students directed against another student with the intent to ridicule humiliate or intimidate the other student while on school grounds, on school transportation or at a school sponsored activity when such acts are repeated against the same student over time.”

Newtown Public School Health Coordinator Judy Blanchard said when evaluations filled out by the participants were returned, many asked for more time.

“We are expanding it and inviting more community members as well,” said Ms Blanchard regarding future meetings for the community conversation.

Cyberbullying, as one topic, Ms Blanchard said, has changed the concept of bullying, because a large portion of cyberbullying is not reported. Therefore, she said, it also goes unnoticed.

Possible future actions that could come from the community conversation, Ms Blanchard said, are things like informing parents more about bullying.

During the Saturday event, groups reported back that being “Nicer in Newtown” should be a goal. Accepting peoples differences as a community, understanding and promoting how to handle bullying, and acknowledging what is acceptable behavior were just some of the points expressed from the groups.

(Anyonel interested in participating in further meetings for the community conversation should email Ms Blanchard at blanchardj@newtown.k12.ct.us)