Middle-schoolers are the students most likely to be victims of bullying in Howard County schools, according to a new state-mandated reporting system.
The state Department of Education compiled reports from 23 school districts.
The Howard County school system reported 72 incidents between September 2005 and Jan. 13 to the state in compliance with the Safe Schools Reporting Act of 2005, which requires schools to report acts of harassment and intimidation.
Most of the incidents occurred on school property and involved rude or threatening gestures, said Pam Blackwell, director of Howard?s Office of Student Services.
Howard?s ratio was 1.5 incidents per 1,000 students, said Patti Caplan, school system spokeswoman.
To address bullying, schools have “bully-proofing” programs that involve teacher-training and seminars for parents, Blackwell said.
Howard also has an Anti-Bullying Task Force, which reviews the “scope of bullying” in the schools and is expected to give a report of its findings in June.
For the past three years, Blackwell said, thestudent services office has trained nurses, counselors, psychologists and pupil personnel workers in how to deal with the issue.
Howard parents who want to download a form to report acts of bullying can visit www.howard.k12.md.us and click on Policies and Guidelines under Quick Links.
The Safe Schools Reporting Act requires
» A description of the act constituting the harassment or intimidation
» Age of the victim and alleged perpetrator
» Description of the investigation of the complaint and action taken
» Number of days the student is absent from school, if any, as a result of action taken
» Number of false allegations reported
