It has been a goal of the Milton school administration going back years to provide a safe, secure and welcoming environment in which learning can thrive. Therefore it may not be a surprise that they are tackling the issue of bullying head on and appear to be at the forefront of schools statewide in addressing this issue. Last night’s presentation by Professor Hall at the high school was only the most recent in a series of efforts to combat this adverse behavior.

Two articles of interest on this issue appeared in today’s news. First is the suspension of Needham High school soccer players for a hazing incident in which other students, mostly freshmen, were led with dog collars (please see video at bottom of this story for Boston Globe reporting on this issue.) Second, an article in today’s Herald reviews the slow response of many schools to develop strategies for dealing with this issue (please see Schools sluggish on bullying – from The Boston Herald. Milton’s efforts started well over a year ago when Alan Cron was asked to chair a committee to compile recommendations and strategies for working with students to deal with bullying. He recently presented to the school committee on the work to date and today there will be a series of rallies held at the schools to cap a week of bullying awareness.

Bullying can take form in many ways and the advances in technology and avenues of communication that have developed (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, texting) have created new opportunities for bullying. Cyberbullying, unfortunately, lets anyone be a bully. The age-old historic advantages of strength and size are no longer limitations. Professor Hall addressed cyberbullying directly in his talk.

The Hall presentation followed on the heels of a talk by John Halligan at the school who spoke of his personal experience with bullying. His son, who was a victim of verbal and cyberbullying,  killed himself. People present said, “You could hear a pin drop.”

One thread runs through all these presentations and materials. This issue is everyone’s responsibility.

You can find an article from Wicked Local Milton along with a video of Mr. Hall’s presentation here. MyTownMatters will be rebroadcasting a program on Milton Access TV in which we talk with Ms. Gormley, Mr. Cron, and Maria Poles, the Police Department’s school resource officer this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (please see MATV programming guide).

You can find comprehensive resource information on the schools anti-bullying efforts here.