Anti-bullying event in Houma this weekend

The Houma-Terrebonne Parish Civic Center is hosting an event this weekend aimed at ending bullying between youths.

The Let’s Fully Destroy the Bully Experience takes place on Saturday at the civic center beginning at 12:30 p.m. The free event will feature speeches by locals and public officials about the challenges bullying presents and the support system available to children facing the problem.

Local activist Corey Harris organized the event and said there will be a variety of local speakers who interact with the youth in different ways. Terrebonne Parish Council Member John Navy, Houma Police Chief Dana Coleman, Terrebonne Parish School Superintendent Philip Martin and Judge Juan Pickett are all scheduled to speak as well as representatives from the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. Harris said there will also be special musical performances on Saturday.

“I really feel that the broad range of speaking, singing and dancing coming together under one roof to stand in solidarity in reference to tackling this issue,” Harris said.

Harris said he created the experience because he thinks bullying is not taken as seriously as it should be because it is such a common thing. He said he knows there are children afraid to go to school because of what they may face when they get there, distracting them from the ability to succeed in the classroom. Harris said he wants to put a spotlight on bullying and address it proactively instead of reactively.

“When something bad happens related to bullying, that’s when somebody wants to talk about it,” Harris said. “I want to be active in doing something other than saying what needs to be done. I really feel you could get much more done from the act of doing something other than just talking about doing something.”

Local school officials say they have made nipping bullying in the bud a top priority and have instituted a number of policies to address bullying when it happens. Since the 2012-13 school year, schools and districts have been required by state law to document cases of bullying. Kim Vauclin, supervisor of child welfare and attendance for the Terrebonne Parish School District, said the term “bullying” is a wide term that needs to be properly defined. A student being mean to a peer the first time is treated a singular incident; once the harassment becomes repetitive is when the school district will refer the student for bullying.

In 2012-13, Terrebonne had 85 reported incidents. That number dropped to 59 and then 52 over the next two years before shooting back up to 86 in 2015-16. Last school year, Terrebonne’s number of incidents dropped again, to a five-year low of 44.

The Lafourche Parish School District has had considerably less incidents over the same time frame. In 2012-13, Lafourche had 33 incidents, dropping to 20 and then 16 over the following two years. In 2015-16, the number was in single digits with four bullying referrals before going back up to 11 last year.

Vauclin said she does not see bullying prevalent in any particular grades and does not see it as a major issue in Terrebonne Parish. However, she did say the TPSD takes the issue very seriously and handles it promptly. It has developed a number of strategies to deal with problems when they arise. Once a student is referred, both the bully and victim sign a cease-and-desist agreement knowing they cannot go near each other or face severe consequences. The TPSD has also set up an anonymous bullying form students or parents can fill out online that will be sent to all administrators within a school. There are also “see it, say it” teachers at each school, designated educators who students know they can contact about bullying issues.

Barry Filce, supervisor of child welfare and attendance for the LPSD, said he credits the steady decrease in bullying incidents with continued awareness prior to and up to the year the law was passed. He said Lafourche has a number of strategies to combat the issues, with the most common being counselor or teacher-led small group lessons, role playing and high school drama classes performing bullying skits for elementary school students. DARE officers also address the issue with students, and Lafourche has added additional bullying-centric training for its employees. Filce said a big challenge with bullying is that it does not stop once the school bell rings anymore. With social media, kids can be interacting with their peers around the clock.

“Bullying can be an all-around tough issue to deal with. Cyber bullying has become another area of bullying that has filtrated into schools across the country,” Filce wrote. “Victims are sometimes apprehensive to report for various reasons in particularly retaliation. Some older students think it’s just ‘not cool’ to report so they let the bullying continue until something serious occurs.”

That concern of students not reporting is also one of the main challenges Vauclin said she sees in addressing the issue in Terrebonne. She said Terrebonne has a number of resources for parents of both children who are victims of bullying and those who act as bullies, including counseling, outside referrals and Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr.’s SPARC program.

“Kids coming to the point where they have lost control of their temper because a kid’s been picking on them but never, never reported it, that’s what we would like to do better at,” Vauclin said. “That’s why we have the anonymous bullying form on the website and we have ‘see it, say it’ teachers kids should be comfortable to approach.”

Filce said the LPSD, like most other districts, take bullying very seriously. He said it is a top priority and no child should be fearful of going to school.

“Although this has been an issue in school for decades we will not be satisfied until we eliminate bullying in all forms,” Filce wrote.

Let’s Fully Destroy the Bully Experience