Manatee County has changed their bullying policy to give teachers more help identifying bullies in their classroom and helping victims report abuse.
- Lakewood Ranch Imagine Charter holds anti-bullying talk
- Part of implementing anti-bullying legislation
- Idea is to prevent the problem before it happens
Students at Lakewood Ranch Imagine Charter shared their experiences with bullying at a talk on Monday hosted by Skip Wilhoit, Manatee County Safe School’s specialist.
"It does affect nearly the entire student population when you look at it from that victim and that aggressor and that bystander perspective," said Wilhoit.
Most bullying start on the playground. Whether you’re in first grade or fifth, many students say they've experienced some form of bullying.
"Kindergarten it was a little rough, she was always leaving me out," said Imagine Charter 4th grader Yaira Spears.
Fourth grader Yaira Spears says she was bullied by someone older and bigger. Wilhoit said that’s what makes it something more than teasing.
"It’s when there is an intentional act to cause harm to another person and there is an imbalance in power," said Wilhoit.
Yaira said her and her bully eventually made up.
"We apologized for what we did back then and we became best friends," said Yaira.
While not every situation will work out that easily, the idea is to prevent the problem before it happens.
Manatee County has had the program "Not in my School" for nearly a decade. Bullying has so much impact, state lawmakers passed new legislation offering schools around 10 different anti-bullying programs to implement.
Each school in the state is allowed to bring in the bullying prevention program of its choice.