The Wall That Heals - Fullerton Observer

EARLY APRIL 2012 LOCAL NEWS
Hazing at Troy:
What Really Happened?
continued from frontpage
According to the report, the student
had the ability to remove the tape over
his mouth and the ball of tape in his
mouth at any time, though how he
could have accomplished that with his
arms bound in Saran wrap was not
explained. When the student was
placed in the bathroom, another student
asked if he was OK and could
breathe.
Victims’ Responses
to Acts of Hazing
“The students re-interviewed stated
that they viewed the events of the
evening as part of being a member of
the team. None of the students
expressed that they felt fear, intimidation,
or concern at any point in time, as
expressed by such comments as:
“It was a friendly environment; I
knew nothing bad was going to happen.”
“We were just doing it out of fun. I
was never scared or intimidated.”
“It is just something that you have to
go through. It wasn’t embarrassing or
humiliating.”
“I just laid low. I was never concerned
for my own safety.”
“It was my teammates and I knew
they like me.””
Findings by the
Administrative Review
“The AR concluded that the original
investigation on Jan. 11-12, 2012 was
done appropriately and was effective in
determining what had occurred during
the incidents. The investigation correctly
identified which student athletes
engaged in misconduct, what type of
misconduct occurred, and whom this
misconduct occurred against.
The district acted appropriately and
cooperatively with the Fullerton Police
Dept. regarding this incident. Both the
Fullerton Police Dept. School Resource
Officer and the San Bernardino
Sheriff’s Office concluded that no
crimes were committed. The police
were contacted immediately when the
investigation began out of an abundance
of caution to ensure that if it was
determined that child abuse had
occurred, the 36-hour reporting
requirement was met.
The district adhered to Board Policy
regarding appropriate disposition for
those students involved in misconduct.
The five days of suspension from school
and suspension from two or three
wrestling matches administered to eight
students was consistent with the expectations
of District Administrative
Regulation 5700.1(b) and (d) regarding
student discipline.”
According to FJUHSD Supt. George
Geokaris, “All district schools have
been very proactive in working to prevent
and respond to student
hazing/bullying/harassment. Many of
the activities at the schools have been
taking place for over 20 years.” A list of
clubs and activities at each campus
included parent and student notification
of regulations against bullying,
how to prevent bullying, and lists of
how to address bullying when it occurs.
The actions taken by Fullerton High
School could serve as a model for other
schools. Among others, the impressive
outreach actions taken to prevent bullying
at the school include: a school-wide
assembly, classroom curriculum, freshmen
orientation, a cyber safety program
using materials developed by the
school’s librarian, a study of bullying on
campus, Push4Peace student club,
Gay/Straight Alliance student club,
Friday Night Live, Bridges (Unity
Week and Speaker Symposium), and a
presentation to staff on bullying prevention.
The school has been working
with Orange County Human
Relations.
Giokaris said on March 21st that a
meeting with OCHRC will be arranged
within the next two weeks to discuss
the programs offered for bullying prevention.
Future Anti-Bullying/Hazing
Education to Prevent
Repeat Occurrences
As a result of the incidents, students
involved in the hazing incidents (in
addition to 5-day suspension) were
required to report to Room 414 for one
hour of a personal development program
related to substance usage presented
by Troy High administrators and
the Fullerton Police Dept. on Feb. 29
and March 7th during school hours. In
addition, head coaches of all sports
were required to sign a contract regarding
hazing which laid out the following
promise: “I will educate: 1) myself; 2)
all members of my coaching staff; 3) all
student athletes within my program; 4)
the parents of the athletes within my
program; 5) the booster club which
supports my program.”
Other measures are upcoming in
changes to the Board Policy, which will
be presented to the board “later this
spring.” The revised Board Policy is the
result of work undertaken by the district
after a letter “Cyber Bullying”
from a concerned mom (Early May
2011 Fullerton Observer page 5) which
expressed criticism regarding how an
incident directed at her student was
handled by the district and police
department. New cyber bullying regulations
are included in the new Board
Policy.
How to Report Bullying or
Hazing Incidents
The district Nondiscrimination
Officer is Jennifer Williams, Dir. of
Admin. Services. Formal or anonymous
complaints may be made by calling her
at 714-870-2803; emailing
jwilliams@fjuhsd.net; or sending a letter
to: Jennifer Williams, Dir. Admin
Services, 1051 W. Bastanchury Rd.,
Fullerton CA 92833. A person wishing
to make a complaint may also call the
district’s We-Tip Hotline at (800)924-
7233.
You can also contact the Orange
County Human Relations Commission
by calling 714-567-7470 or going to
www.ochumanrelations.org. The website
has a section on bullying and how
it can be prevented.
Source of information presented in this
report is the Feb. 22, 2012 “Fullerton
Joint Unified High School District
Administrative Review
of Investigation Involving Troy High
School Wrestling Team Members”
•US Dept. of Education: Bullying prevention
and response.
P T Y K LE SP www.bullyinginfo.org
•Bully Police: A watch-dog organization
advocating for bullied children & reporting
on State anti-bullying laws.
P T M LE SP www.bullypolice.org
•Stop Bullying Now!: Learn all about
bullying and what you can do to stop it.
P T Y K LE SP
www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/
•Stomp Out Bullying: A National Anti-
Bullying and Cyberbullying Program for
Kids and Teens. P T Y K
stompoutbullying.org/index.php
•Olweus Bullying Prevention Program:
Self described as “The World’s Foremost
Bullying Prevention Program”
PTYK LE M SP www.olweus.org
•US Dept. of Justice: Bullying in schools
- a problem oriented policing guide.
www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/e12011405.pdf
P T Y LE SP
•National Crime Prevention Council:
Information and resources to help prevent
the serious problem of bullying. P T Y K
http://www.ncpc.org/topics/bullying
•PBS Kids: Games, videos, advice and
other child-friendly resources to prevent bullying.
Y K
pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/bullies/
•Bullying.org: Dedicated to increasing
the awareness of bullying and to preventing,
resolving and eliminating bullying in society.
T Y K
http://www.bullying.org/index.cfm
•National PTA: Information on identifying
and stopping bullying in your community. P
SP http://www.pta.org/bullying.asp
•Cyberbullying: Identifying the causes
and consequences of cyberbullying.
P T Y K SP www.cyberbullying.us
•A Thin Line: Drawing the line between
digital use and abuse. T www.athinline.org
•CyberBully Help: Preventing bullying in
the digital age. P T Y K LE M SP
www.cyberbullyhelp.com/
•SAVE: The National Association of
Students Against Violence Everywhere.
Students learn about alternatives to violence
and practice what they learn. Y
http://www.nationalsave.org/index.php
•Web Wise Kids: Unique and effective
resources to equip young people to safely use
and enjoy the latest technologies.
P T Y K www.webwisekids.org
•Safety Web: Helpful tool for parents who
need assistance in monitoring instant messaging
and social networking sites.
P www.safetyweb.com
•Netsmartz: From the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children.
Information for young kids, youth and
adults.
P T Y K LE www.netsmartz.org
FULLERTON OBSERVER Page 9
Bullying Resources: Websites
www.ochumanrelations.org
•Wired Safety: World’s largest internet
safety and help group. P T Y K LE
www.wiredsafety.org
•Teaching Tolerance: “Bullied” is a documentary
film that chronicles one student’s
ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and
offers an inspiring message of hope to those
fighting harassment today. P T Y K LE M
SP www.tolerance.org/bullied
•Safe Schools Coalition: An international
public-private partnership in support of
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth,
working to help schools become safe places.
www.safeschoolscoalition.org/safe.html
P T Y SP
•Gay Lesbian Straight Education
Network: GLSEN provides resources and
support for schools to implement effective
and age-appropriate anti-bullying programs
to improve school climate for all students.
P T Y M SP www.glsen.org/cgibin/iowa/all/antibullying/index.html
•The Trevor Project: The Trevor Project
is the leading national organization focused
on crisis and suicide prevention efforts
among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.
P T Y www.thetrevorproject.org/
•GSA Network: Gay-Straight Alliance
Network connects school-based Gay-
Straight Alliances to each other and community
resources through peer support, leadership
development, and training.
P T Y SP gsanetwork.org/
•It Gets Better Project: Many LGBT
youth can't picture what their lives might be
like as openly gay adults. The videos provide
a positive message about what the future can
be. P T Y LE M SP
www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject
•Make it Better: LGBT youth should not
have to suffer through bullying at school!
We can Make It Better NOW! P T Y SP
makeitbetterproject.org/
•MARC: The Massachusetts Aggression
Reduction Center provides research, education,
services and programs to Education,
Law Enforcement, and Human Services.
P T Y LE M SP
http://webhost.bridgew.edu/marc/
KEY (shows what kind of
info each site listed offers)
P - Parents/Guardians
T - Teachers/Administrators
Y - Youth
K - Youth Under 12
LE - Law Enforcement
M - Media
SP - Service Providers