ShareThisCalifornia students who are bullied at school soon will have a stronger law to back them, legislation that requires additional training for administrators and makes it easier for victims to transfer to another school.
The state law, which goes into effect July 1, gives K-12 schools and parents more ways to deal with bullying, which can lead to juveniles feeling depressed, failing their classes, being drawn to drugs and, sometimes, wanting to leave school altogether, school administrators said.
"This ratchets it up," said Gabe Soumakian, superintendent of the Oxnard Union High School District. "What adults may have dismissed in the past, we can't dismiss. We have to be responsive. You can't just allow certain behavior or language."
Bullying is not a new problem, but now it's spread online, and 20 percent to 40 percent of kids say they have experienced cyberbullying at least once, according to a University of Arizona study.
Cyberspace bullying can be especially pernicious because students feel anonymous when they make cruel comments online, said Randy McLelland, a counselor at Oak Park High School in Oak Park.
"Kids seem to be drawn in like moths to a flame," McLelland said. "They feel like they have to respond. Even if they choose to turn it off, they still see it."
Traditional bullying -- shoving someone into a locker or spreading rumors -- also is still widespread, school officials said. And it involves both boys and girls, according to the National Science Foundation.
The foundation found that boys are more likely to physically threaten someone, while girls' bullying may be more indirect -- shunning a former friend, for example.
Children can be targeted for a range of reasons. They may be different in some way, or they may not have a lot of friends, according to the foundation. Also, teenagers tend to retaliate when they see a perceived wrong -- that someone "stole" someone else's boyfriend, for example, McLelland said.
Children sometimes don't see how much pain they're causing, whether it's online or in an offhand comment made when adults aren't around, McLelland said. Targets of bullying may not feel like they have the social status to tell the bully to stop.
"The adolescent world is quite a minefield," McLelland said. "They don't see it. They say, 'We were just kidding around; we didn't mean it.' They're not being sensitive to the fact that it's hurtful."
Bullying was an issue in the recent trial of Brandon McInerney, who was sentenced to 21 years in prison last month for killing his classmate Larry King at school. McInerney was 14 at the time of the Feb. 12, 2008, shooting, and King was 15. During the trial, the defense suggested that King, who told friends he was gay, was sexually harassing McInerney.
Educators say they're figuring out how to comply with the new law, which expands existing legislation that requires schools to have comprehensive safety plans. The Oxnard Union district may incorporate training on bullying into training that administrators already receive on sexual harassment, Soumakian said. The Ventura Unified School District also plans to expand existing training, said Superintendent Trudy Tuttle Arriaga.
"We need to be sure that adults are aware, that they're not ever minimizing comments that could hurt a child," Arriaga said. "It's not just that we're aware, but it's also our response -- to ensure that the bully is given appropriate consequences and that the victim is safe and secure."
The new law expands on programs many schools already have in place to prevent bullying or deal with it when it happens.
(Contact Jean Cowden Moore of the Ventura County Star in California at JCMoore(at)vcstar.com.)
