South Hadley became a subject of international scrutiny when high school student Phoebe Prince took her life after being bullied.
SOUTH HADLEY – Preliminary results of an annual survey of youth behavior in Hampshire County reveal that South Hadley is making progress in bullying prevention.
Referred to as the “Bach Harrison Survey,” the project is carried out by the Strategic Initiative for Families and Youth of the Northampton-based Collaborative for Educational Services.
Bach Harrison LLC is a Utah-based survey research and evaluation service.
South Hadley students in grades 8, 10 and 12 responded to the survey in spring 2010 and again in spring 2011.
The survey indicated that in all Hampshire County communities, an average of 81 percent of high school students indicated they had not been bullied at all in the past year.
In South Hadley, the percentage of secondary school students who experienced a bully-free year was higher – 84.9.
Last year, 74.3 percent of South Hadley High School students said they had not been bullied at all, compared to the 84.9 percentage this year.
The questions about bullying were part of a larger survey on youth behavior.
Some may wonder that bullying still exists at all in schools, given the recent state-wide barrage of legal and curricular efforts to end bullying.
Gus Sayer“It’s a thorny problem to get a handle on,” South Hadley Schools superintendent Gus Sayer said at a meeting of the South Hadley School Committee last week.
South Hadley became a subject of international scrutiny when high school student Phoebe Prince took her life in January 2010 after being bullied.
That same year, Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed an anti-bullying law, a 300-member anti-bullying task force met in South Hadley, and the South Hadley Schools produced a 40-page guide on anti-bullying strategies and policies.
The state defines bullying as harassment that is repeated, as opposed to a one-time conflict.
The Bach Harrison survey indicated that the number of South Hadley High School students who were bullied on four or more days dropped from 7.8 percent in 2010 to 4.4 percent in 2011.
These reports are preliminary, said assistant superintendent Christine Sweklo, and more data will be released as the survey is studied in depth.
Sayer is heartened by the report. “It doesn’t solve the problem,” he said, “but something has changed.”