{"id":8875,"date":"2012-06-19T08:30:12","date_gmt":"2012-06-19T12:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=8875"},"modified":"2012-06-20T15:40:46","modified_gmt":"2012-06-20T19:40:46","slug":"the-truth-about-bullying-in-floridas-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/06\/19\/the-truth-about-bullying-in-floridas-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About Bullying in Florida’s Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Sarah Gonzalez \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p>

Austin Beaucage, 16, at his home in Key Largo, Fla. He doesn't want to go back to school after the summer break because he says there is too much school bullying.<\/p><\/div>\n

Freshman Austin Beaucage has been picked on his whole life.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s small for his age and socially awkward.<\/p>\n

But the bullying was never like last month at Coral Shores High School in Key Largo, Fla.<\/p>\n

“Some senior locked me in a closet in my 6th period and he wouldn’t let me out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was banging on the door and then the other kids in the class were laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin, 16, speaks with his head down. His lips hardly move.<\/p>\n

He says he was locked in the closet for most of the period.<\/p>\n

According to his school district policy, this is not considered school bullying.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Education has a very particular definition for bullying<\/a> that most districts use.<\/p>\n

It is \u201csystematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress.”<\/p>\n

Schools generally look for three criteria before they cry \u201cbully.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. There is an imbalance of power or a perceived imbalance of power.<\/li>\n
  2. There is intent to cause harm or distress.<\/li>\n
  3. The harassment is repeated over time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    That one word \u2014 repeated \u2014 may be keeping Florida\u2019s school bullying numbers lower than they should be.<\/p>\n

    The high school senior who locked Austin in the closet had never done anything to him before.<\/p>\n

    Because it wasn’t repeated harassment, it couldn\u2019t be counted as bullying under the school district policy.<\/p>\n

    Last year, only 6,107 cases in Florida schools qualified as bullying\u2014or about 3 percent of all public school students in the state.<\/p>\n

    But according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 31 percent of U.S. students say they are bullied.<\/p>\n

    Experts say Florida\u2019s low numbers are likely due to differences in how districts classify bullying.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>

    Courtesy of Sheri Leitch<\/p>

    Austin says his younger brother, Shayne Ijames, 13, was always the popular one.<\/p><\/div>\n

    School officials in\u00a0Alachua County, for example, say if there’s ever a question about whether something is or isn’t bullying, they tend to choose a more serious classification — such as threatening a classmate — over bullying.<\/p>\n

    In\u00a0Palm\u00a0Beach\u00a0County schools one out of every 95 students reported being bullied last school year.<\/p>\n

    Duval\u00a0County reported just one bullying incident for every 4,700 students.<\/p>\n

    What Happens When Students Report Bullying?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Austin doesn’t usually tell his teachers about being bullied.<\/p>\n

    He goes to his younger brother, Shayne Ijames \u2014 A surfer with long blond hair who’s always been the popular one.<\/p>\n

    “He would never bully anyone,\u201d Austin said. \u201cHe’s always stood up for people.”<\/p>\n

    But his little brother recently moved to live with his dad in Port St. Lucie.<\/p>\n

    So after being locked in his classroom closet, Austin confided in a school friend who took him down to the principals office to fill out a bullying report.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe sat down and had an interview with the principal and then the principal just made me and the kid shake hands.”<\/p>\n

    Principal David Murphy says students treat each other badly all the time.<\/p>\n

    \n

    “A student treating another student unfairly or in a bad way does not necessarily classify itself as bullying because of the ongoing nature of a bullying relationship.”<\/p>\n

    – Coral Shores Principal David Murphy<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n

    \u201cA student treating another student unfairly or in a bad way does not necessarily classify itself as bullying because of the ongoing nature of a bullying relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Murphy says his school has had zero reported instances of school bullying this year.<\/p>\n

    He says school administrators have not been able to prove the three criteria for bullying.<\/p>\n

    “Very often it’s not an aggressor and a victim but its two kids and they’re adolescents. They get into these kinds of things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    School policies protect students from being labeled a bully on their student record, until they have repeatedly shown characteristics of bullying.<\/p>\n

    \u201cDoes that make the person that was victimized feel that it isn\u2019t going to happen again? No, it probably doesn\u2019t,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n

    Austin says asking him to shake hands with his bully didn\u2019t solve anything.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019m still never going to get over the fact that the kid locked me in the closet just because we shaked hands.\u201d he said. \u201cThey should have suspended him.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Bullying expert Trish Ramsey with the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment says the danger of this policy is students may not come forward again.<\/p>\n

    “Why would I want to tell anybody if I think they’re going to make me see this person again?,\u201d she said.\u00a0

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