Kulsoom Basharat

2/25/2015
Memo #1

By 1:00 pm on April 20th 1999, two 12th grade students at Columbine high school, Eric
Harris and Dylan Klebold had committed suicide. Prior to that they went on a rampage and
massacred twelve students and one teacher. Researches, psychologists, the FBI, and even the
secret service spent countless hours in hopes of piecing together information and answering
why this horrific tragedy had occurred. They set out to identify what drove these two young
men to commit such acts of violence. Some attributed it to bullying, being that students in
Columbine high school predominately were focused on being competitive in sports and the
popular kids were the ones who had that mentality/interest. Teachers may have ignored signs
of bullying towards outcast students like Eric and Dylan. These two were a part of a Goth group
known by the moniker, Trench Coat Mafia. (Wikipedia, 2015) In many ways this incident
brought to the forefront the presumed adverse effects of bullying, unfortunately the lessons
learned from Columbine and subsequent tragedies have not yet yielded permanent solutions to
diminish such atrocities.
Up in till the 1970s, bullying was not considered to be a pertinent social problem.
However in 1973 Dan Olweus, a psychology professor at the University of Bergen in Norway,
published his work in a book on the first large-scale scientific study on bullying among school
children and youth. The book was later published in the United States in 1978, titled,
Aggression in the Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys. The study showed that bullying was a
prevalent issue in schools. Olweus also conducted the first systematic intervention study,
Bullying Prevention Program in the 1980s and it is still considered to be the foremost authority
on bullying behavior. (Foundation, 2015)

Kulsoom Basharat
2/25/2015
Memo #1

The ripple effects that bullying has on society as whole is far too great to be overlooked
and ignored. Bullying as defined by the Board of Education in the Commonwealth of Virginia
states that,
Bullying means systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological
distress on another person. Bullying involves physical and emotional behaviors that are
intentional, controlling, and hurtful, thus creating harassing, intimidating, hostile or
otherwise offensive educational environment.. (Virginia, 2013)
Bullying is indeed a major public health and safety problem. It has both short and long
term impacts on society. Not only can bullying drive a student into isolation, depression, poor
grades/dropping out of school, but it can also lead to suicide. Unaddressed issues at a young
age can lead to outbursts of violence as an adult (hate crimes, violation of basic civil rights,
shooting rampages, road rage, substance abuse, etc.). It is critical that we as members of
society address such damaging behavior and develop realistic policies to address such issues in
a permanent way.
Half of the middle school student population (7th and 8th grade) in Fairfax County
reported being bullied in 2013. Seventy-five percent of teens who admitted to bullying others,
reported that they themselves were also victims of bullying behavior. Almost twenty-eight
percent of depressed students report they were cyberbullied in 2013. In the eighth grade, the
prevalence for being a victim of bullying behavior was fifty-seven percent and this age group
had the highest percent of cyberbullying among the surveyed population. (Survey, 2014)
Cyberbullying has become more prevalent as technology has advanced. In 2013 the
Fairfax County Youth Survey was administered and it was found that 7,900 students in grades 62

Kulsoom Basharat
2/25/2015
Memo #1

12 were cyberbullied during that year. (Survey, 2014) In a number of cases, cyberbullying has
led to suicide. According to BullyingStatistic.org, Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more
likely to consider suicide than non-victims (BullyingStatistic.org, 2013)
The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issues guidance
to schools every October (which is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month) on the
responsibility and legal obligation public schools have to prevent and address bullying behavior
within their school systems. (Education, 2014) Over 2,000 complaints have been escalated to
the OCR since 2009. Every year the message within the guidance has changed. They have
addressed different types of bullying such as bullying against students with disabilities, bullying
based on race, religion, gender, and so forth. In 2012 President Obama committed $132 million
dollars to anti-bullying efforts in public schools but critics argued that that amount was not
sufficient enough to reach all the public schools in the U.S. (Gregory, 2011)
Primarily focusing on bullying in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), I discovered a
great deal of practices in place to address bullying behavior but also realized how much of a
challenge the issue is for the school system. There are several opportunities for further
development of the various prevention programs with FCPS.
Within FCPS administrators, teachers, and students are held accountable in creating,
overseeing, and maintaining a safe and positive environment for everyone. The Virginia school
board has made it a requirement that teachers include bullying prevention lessons in their
character education curriculum since 2005. (Virginia, 2013) The board has also included
verbiage in the student code of conduct and roles and responsibility documents.

Kulsoom Basharat
2/25/2015
Memo #1

FCPS has a Restorative Justice program where the bully, victim, and the families of
both students can come together and discuss the situation through a mediator and develop a
path forward to restore the relationship (Schools, 2015). The aim of this program is to work to
resolve issues and eliminate the reoccurrence of the behavior. This program is voluntary and it
is unknown how many students actively participate in this program to deal with their bullying
issue.
FCPS teachers and administrators are given informational material on what to look for in
bullies and victims. Certain contributing factors are listed for why children bully and why they
get bullied. According to the material, the triggers that cause a child to become a bully are the
following: impulsivity (poor self-control), harsh parenting by caregivers, and attitudes accepting
of violence. Factors that explain why children get bulled are the following: friendship
difficulties, poor self-esteem, quiet, passive manner with lack of assertiveness. (Krause, 2011)
This list is by no means extensive nor does it adequately detail the signs nor does it describe
how certain triggers can change through time or provide any preventative measures.
FCPS understands the need to tackle bullying behavior outside of school grounds as
well. FCPS works in unison with Fairfax Countys office of Neighborhood and Community
Services (NCS) to ensure that they both provide consistent messaging on bullying in after school
programs and community/teen centers. (Schools, 2015) NCS has gone a step forward and has
developed a toolkit designed to help address bullying and other social issues that affect
children/teens.
Even though FCPS students are asked to behave respectfully and to resolve conflicts in
positive ways and to create a culture of acceptance and civility, it is challenging pinpointing a
4

Kulsoom Basharat
2/25/2015
Memo #1

specific solution in order to carry out this mission. The Virginia Board of Education has made
recommendations to develop evidence-based anti-bullying programs. They have suggested that
there be more student and family involvement and to designate a bullying prevention
coordinator. (Virginia, 2013)
While it is useful to have multiple strategies in order to approach this issue; there
continues to be systemic failures that allow bullying to seep into its classrooms, school
hallways, and into the lives of so many people. The assumption administrators have made is
that school staff and the community in general will continually partake in the promotion of
bullying prevention. While general awareness is helpful, it does not address deep rooted issues
that the bully and the victim face.
A holistic plan that addresses the issue from cradle to grave would be beneficial in
understanding the complexities of bullying behavior and consequences. Meeting with his/her
parent/guardian to learn more about the bullys home life and pinpointing where things have
derailed is essential. Behavior that is not address from the root can be repeated throughout
life. The ultimate goal is to prevent bullying behavior before it starts, but it requires thorough
and ongoing research and strategies to mitigate the risks of children becoming victims of
bullying behavior.

Kulsoom Basharat
2/25/2015
Memo #1

Bibliography
BullyingStatistic.org. (2013). Bullying and Suicide. Retrieved from
http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-and-suicide.html
Cohen, N. (2014, December 19). To Stop a Bully. Retrieved from Richmondmag.com:
http://richmondmagazine.com/news/news/bullying-prevention-program/
Education, U. D. (2014, October 21). Retrieved from Bullying of Students with Disabilities Addressed in
Guidance to Americas Schools: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/bullying-studentsdisabilities-addressed-guidance-america%E2%80%99s-schools
Foundation, H. (2015). A Brief History of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program . Retrieved from Home
of The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program:
http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/olweus_history.page
Gregory, C. (2011, March 16). Obama commits $132M to anti-bullying what will that mean? Retrieved
from http://corinnegregory.com/blog/2011/03/16/obama-commits-132m-to-anti-bullyingwhat-will-that-mean/
Krause, C. (2011, June 27). Bullying. Retrieved from Fairfax Mental Health:
http://www.fairfaxmentalhealth.com/bullying
Schools, F. C. (2015). fcps.org. Retrieved from Bullying Prevention and Intervention: www.fcps.org
Survey, F. C. (2014). Fairfax County Youth Survey Results. Fairfax: Fairfax County.
Virginia, B. o. (2013). Model Policy to Address Bullying in Virginia's Schools.
Wikipedia, t. f. (2015, February 22). Columbine High School massacre. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre#Bullying