Get tougher on bullying

I am writing today as a Master in Social Work student at EWU in hopes of generating public concern for bullying in Washington schools. Upon researching laws in Washington state regarding bullying, I have found the law does not require preventive methods of addressing the problem. Some shocking statistics from DoSomething.org:

-Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying.

-1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4 percent of the time.

-Over 67 percent of students believe that school responds poorly to bullying, with a high percentage of students believing that adult help is infrequent and ineffective.

Washington law now requires school districts to comply with the model anti-bullying policy. Unfortunately, the last 10 years have shown stagnation in the rates of bullying. Clearly more needs to be done.

Washington needs to amend RCW 28.A.300.285 to provide stronger guidance to school districts around this topic. I recommend the following items be added to this law: use of evidence-based curriculum in each grade level, proactive approach to bullying prevention and alternative discipline practices geared at correcting bullying behavior.

Jeanette Haynes

Spokane