Montgomery County teachers, parents and students converged on Saturday to try to figure out why bullying remains such a persistent problem in the public school system.
The number of bullying cases increased by 48 percent last school year, from 282 confirmed reports countywide in 2009-2010 to 417 last school year. Brenda Wilks, director of the school system’s Department of Student Services, said the number of students requesting school transfers due to bullying has also gone up in recent years.
And that’s just the bullying the school staff knows about.
“We all know the victim is scared, and often doesn’t trust the adults in the building, doesn’t even trust the adults in the community, and depending on the age, can be afraid to tell their parents,” said Wilks, speaking to school staff, community members, parents and students themselves at a bullying symposium convened by the county’s Office of Human Rights and the Committee on Hate/Violence.
