Last
year Lauren Bowman, an eighth grader at St. Christine School in
Youngstown, Ohio, died at home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The
13-year-old, who loved softball, reading, and her dogs, had been bullied
at school. For her, ending her life was preferable to returning to
class after summer break. That same year Daniel Fitzpatrick, a seventh
grader at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, hanged himself. And
in 2017 Keegan Beal, a fifth grader at St. Mark's Catholic School in
Peoria, Illinois, ended his life after enduring years of bullying at
different schools.
Catholic middle school students are
not free from the effects of bullying. While research shows that overall
students in private schools tend to be less cliquey and more accepting
than those at public schools (which means a smaller likelihood of
bullying), the recent deaths of Bowman, Fitzpatrick, and Beal are tragic
evidence that bullying can go too far even in the face of anti-bullying
policies, small caring communities, and religious education.
To
be clear, bullying is not the same thing as typical and age-appropriate
teasing many of us recall enduring over parts of our childhood. The
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines bullying as
repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that
involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Middle school seems to be
the most difficult period to get through: According to a 2015 Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey, almost a quarter of
middle schoolers reported having been cyberbullied (compared to 15
percent of high schoolers).
There is good news,
however. A recent study of 109 Maryland schools across 10 years
indicates a significant decrease in reported cases of bullying. One
potential reason is an enhanced focus on educating students as whole
people-not just keeping up test scores. This type of curriculum, called
social emotional learning (SEL), teaches both students and adults how to
prevent bullying before it happens and provide overall healthier
environments in which to learn and grow.
The focus on SEL
in schools was catalyzed in 1994 with the formation of the Collaborative
for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), which studies,
advocates for, and provides training in SEL curriculum. Through group
discussions, writing work, partner exercises, and teamwork, teachers and
students work on self-management, social awareness, decision-making,
relationship skills, and community building. In focusing on these areas,
SEL can help students understand and manage emotions, set and achieve
positive goals, show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive
relationships, and make responsible decisions. SEL can help create a
community that provides emotional education for potential bullying
victims and bullies alike. And it's taught in many Catholic schools.
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