Bullying in schools can have long-lasting consequences for both the victims and the perpetrators, Sherburne County Juvenile Prosecutor Victoria Powell told an audience of Becker Middle School students last Friday morning.

 

While victims can have life-long self-esteem issues, stress and suppressed rage that can surface in later life, bullies can find themselves in court and, in some cases, in custody for actions that become a part of their permanent record and can prevent them from finding jobs, entering college or pursuing careers such as law enforcement or the military, Powell said.

 

Middle School Assistant Principal Chantel Boyer introduced Powell, who has made similar presentations in Becker schools since she started the county Bullying Intervention Project 12 years ago.  The district held a “Unite Against Bullying” program last week, with students and staff all wearing orange on Wednesday to help focus attention on the effort.

 

Powell easily held the attention of her student audience, her clipped British accent (she was born in Liverpool and grew up in Canada) and ultra-professional courtroom demeanor reinforcing her determination to call attention to the problem of bullying in schools, and to do something about it.

 

Between 10 to 15 percent of students are victims of bullying in school, Powell told the students, while seven per cent of students engage in bullying either at school or on the school bus.  The prosecutor defines bullying as “Hitting, stealing, taunting, and/or making inappropriate sexual or racial remarks that are designed to isolate and humiliate the victim.”  Boys tend to be physical bullies, she said, while girls most often will torture their victims mentally.

 

The problem behavior typically starts in elementary school, Powell said, and tends to peak in the middle school years before tapering off in high school as students mature and begin to pursue individual interests independent of their peer groups.

 

The explosion in communication technology has also led to new and more devious forms of bullying, Powell said, including the anonymous “Sub Tweets” which can be posted with no way to discover the identity of the author.  Students can also be victimized by cyber bullies who may sign them up on pornographic web sites, or create false “My Space” pages containing untrue statements and sexual comments without the victim’s knowledge.

 

Young people also sometimes send intimate pictures of themselves (“Sexting”) to friends in the mistaken belief that they will not be published anywhere else.  “Sexting is forever,” Powell said, in that images once on the Internet remain available for years.  Powell also detailed the problem of “Sextortion” or “Revenge Porn”, in which a person possessing intimate images can use the threat of publication to try to force the victim to do things they would not normally do from fear of exposure.

 

Students who become bullies often exhibit a number of warning signs as they grow older, Powell said, such as constant fighting, obvious cravings for attention, hurting animals, lying about their actions, disrespecting adults at home and at school, breaking rules and flaunting their pride in being a bully.

 

Research has shown that 71 per cent of the students who have committed school shootings had been bullied prior to the tragedy, Powell said.

Students who are bullied report health problems, and often see their grades fall due to stress. An average of 160,000 students nationwide miss days of school each year out of fear of bullying, Powell said.

 

While bullying crimes are most often committed by juveniles, minors, and their parents, can still find themselves in court as a resulting of their behavior.  While first offences and minor crimes may lead to fines and suspensions, Powell cautioned that more serious matters, such as assault or other crimes of violence, can lead to adjudication and incarceration in facilities such as the Lino Lakes facility.  Costs to parents can run from $120 to $200 per day for such confinement, Powell said.

 

Crimes of violence convictions can also have other consequences, Powell said, such as being banned from owning or using firearms for hunting or sport purposes, and being unable to join the military or law enforcement agencies as a career due to prior convictions.

 

Sex offenders must register as such, Powell said, a life-long detriment that can make it very difficult to find a job or enroll in a college or university.

 

Powell said the best thing to do is not to hit the bully, but simply to “tell the truth” about what you saw to persons in authority.  She encouraged popular students to “use your powers for good” in making bullying unacceptable behavior by their own actions and responses.

 

Powell cited a case at Central Kings Rural High School in Canada, where two students got the entire student body to come to school wearing pink after a student had been bullied unmercifully for wearing a pink shirt to school on the first day of classes.  They went out and purchased 75 pink T-shirts and tank tops for their fellow students because “they wanted to do something” about a situation they felt was deeply unfair to one of their fellow students.

 

She also cited a case closer to home, in which a 12-year-old Ham Lake student was bullied so extensively that he took his own life rather than continue to endure the misery. Powell quoted a family member, who said: “With my brother, if one kid would have stood up for him or talked to him, he’d still be here now.”

 

Powell often ends her presentation with this advice:  “Treat each other with kindness or you may see me again – in court.”