While attending Falls High School, Jordan Pearson said he missed about 50 days of school each year until he graduated in 2007.
Although he would fake being sick, it wasn’t an illness keeping him home; it was the endless bullying he endured from his peers each day.
“I was bullied every day from seventh grade on,” the now-local realtor said. “I would pretend to be sick so I could stay home. I was extremely depressed.”
Pearson said high school was a difficult time and he kept the issue to himself. He admitted to having thoughts of suicide and felt he had only a few true friends.
“People made me feel like I wasn’t equal, that I wasn’t as good as everybody else,” he said. “I just learned to deal with it.”
Pearson said that although his past of being bullied is still part of him, he decided to continue his life in International Falls and is now an active member in the community.
“I’m getting closure by still living here,” he said. “I’ve outgrown what happened to me, but it has also made me who I am today.”
Even though he was able to overcome bullying, Pearson said it is still a very real problem.
“People just don’t want to deal with (bullying),” he said.
Pearson is now on what he calls a “huge anti-bullying kick.”
And he is not alone. Key state and local school officials are also determined to put an end to the growing issue.
Proposed legislation
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson Nov. 23 encouraged the Minnesota Legislature to enact a bill to address school bullying that is patterned after one passed in North Dakota on a bipartisan basis earlier this year.
“No child should be afraid to go to school because of bullying,” said Swanson in a news release. “While policies and reporting cannot stop all bullying, they can set a strong tone and school culture against it.”
According to www.bullypolice.org, the North Dakota bullying legislation has been given an “A++” rating and Minnesota’s current bullying law has been given a grade of “C-” by the same website. A news release highlighted that Minnesota’s current anti-bullying law is one of the shortest in the nation and simply requires schools to adopt a written policy prohibiting bullying, without specifying any standards or reporting requirements.
Jerry Struss, superintendent of Independent School District 363, told The Journal when it comes to bullying, his district follows the policy set by the Minnesota School Board Association.
“Our staff does a good job of addressing bullying in the classroom when they’re aware of it,” Struss said.
While Struss explained he personally hadn’t dealt with any problems during his first year with the district, complaints of bullying can be filed and an investigation, if necessary, would follow.
Under the legislation proposed by Swanson, school districts would be required to adopt an anti-bullying policy by Jan. 1, 2013, which requires bullying incidents to be reported and investigated, a release said. The law would require the policy to:
• Prohibit students from engaging in bullying or in reprisal or retaliation against bullying victims or those who report bullying.
• Establish procedures for immediate reporting of alleged acts of bullying or bullying-related retaliation.
• Establish procedures for schools to follow in investigating reports of alleged bullying or retaliation.
• Establish disciplinary measures applicable to those who engage in bullying or bullying-related retaliation, including graduated consequences for such behavior.
• Require law enforcement to be notified if an investigation results in a reasonable suspicion that a crime may have occurred.
• Establish strategies to protect bullying victims.
• Establish bullying prevention programs for all K-12 students.
Should the law be adopted, a copy of the policy must be discussed with students and district personnel and widely distributed in the schools. In addition, each school district would file an annual public report with the Attorney General’s Office which identifies all material incidents of bullying.
Up to 85 percent of all bullying happens in front of witnesses, including adults, according to the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Yet, bullying often goes unreported.
Jeff Peura, superintendent of Independent School District 361, admitted school officials are aware that bullying is a growing concern and that “staff is making a real effort to be aware of the bullying potential.”
He added that officials in the district are working in particular with eighth grade students on anti-bullying efforts to hopefully make an impression before they move into the high school grade levels.
“We go above and beyond,” he said “We’re going to continue to be aware and eliminate the issue.”
Governor’s task force
Other efforts at the state level include an executive order issued by Gov. Mark Dayton Nov. 29 to establish the Governor’s Task Force on the Prevention of School Bullying.
According to the governor’s website, this task force will be charged with examining the best practices and policies that currently exist to prevent bullying and providing future recommendations to the governor and the legislature on this subject.
“Bullying causes severe suffering and harm to the children who are its victims, and we must do more to stop it,” Dayton said in a statement. “Children and parents in Minnesota should have confidence that their schools are safe places for learning and are free of harm or intimidation. The work of this task force is critical to ensuring that a healthy and nurturing school environment exists for every child in our state.”
Brian Brown, principal at Indus School, is optimistic that the task force will help.
“We need education is what we need,” he told The Journal. “Hopefully this task force will provide education statewide.”
Pearson is hopeful, too. “Kids need advocates — they need someone to talk to. They need to know there are people who have gone through the same thing and help is out there.”
Bullying statistics
• 13 percent of Minnesota students in grades six, nine and 12 are bullied regularly according to a 2011 study by the Minnesota Departments of Health and Education.
• More than 100,000 students report being bullied at least once a week.
• Nationwide, more than 3.2 million children in grades six through 10 are victims of bullies each year, while 3.7 million bully other children, according to a report by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.
• 42 percent of children have been bullied while online, according to Pacer Center.
• 160,000 children miss school every day because of intimidation by other students.
• Fight Crime: Invest in Kids reports that kids who are bullied are five times more likely to be depressed.
