About 180 parents participated over the weekend in the Parent Awareness Workshop on Bullying Prevention at the Outrigger Hotel, according to Joleen Respicio, Judiciary of Guam Safe and Drug Free Schools project manager.
Respicio said the Judiciary and Guam Department of Education collaborated to host a BASTA bullying prevention workshop to address youth bullying, violence, substance abuse and other behavioral issues plaguing the island community.
BASTA, which stands for Bullying Affects Students, Teachers and All, is also the Chamorro word for “stop.”
“The Judiciary and DOE hosted this parent workshop to raise awareness of the bullying prevention campaign in the entire Guam school district. The workshop provided practical information on how to address bullying when it occurs, warning signs to watch out for and resources available for students and parents,” said Respicio.
The bullying prevention program, Respicio said, will be implemented for the first time this school year because federal funds have only become available a few months ago.
Statistics
According to Olweus Bullying Prevention Program statistics, bullies are four times more likely to have three or more criminal convictions by the age of 24.
In a survey of 524,000 students grades three through 12 across the United States, OBPP found that:
• 16.8 percent of students indicated that they had been bullied two to three times a month or more often in the previous couple of months;
• The most common form of bullying (for both boys and girls) was verbal bullying, followed by rumor-spreading and social exclusion;
• In the U.S., most data show that girls are more involved in cyber-bullying than boys;
• Children and youth are somewhat more likely to tell their parents than their teachers or other adults at school about being bullied; and
• About 21 percent of girls and 35 percent of boys have told no one about being bullied.
Significant
“As parents of students, they play the most significant role in their child’s life and education to help prevent, intervene, and stop bullying on our island,” emphasized Respicio.
Last week, the Guam Department of Education hosted a week-long School Counselor’s Conference at the Fiesta Resort Guam.
While the conference touched on several subjects, one of the more important topics raised was school bullying.
Variety reported last Friday that a total of 1,060 incidences of bullying/harassment were reported in Guam’s public schools for school year 2010-2011.
That total represents 628 reported incidences in the elementary level; 324 in the middle school level; and 108 in the high school level.
