Bay grad’s tale illustrates persistent bullying problem

One day they were friends sharing classes, working together at school activities.

The next, Lindsey Elhart became the target of her classmate’s relentless harassment.

She called Elhart “slut,” “whore.” She made snarky comments about the clothes Elhart wore. Threatening voice mails and text messages from blocked phone numbers flooded Elhart’s cell phone. Her parents’ home was covered with toilet paper in the middle of the night numerous times.

Elhart’s friends turned on her for fear of becoming the girl’s next target. Others knew of what was happening but stayed quiet. That, Elhart said, includes school administrators — a claim the district denies.

“A majority of the school knew how hurtful she was and a majority of the school just saw me take it because there was nothing else they could do for me,” Elhart, now 19, said of her senior year at Hudson’s Bay High School.

When Elhart walked through the high school’s doors, she felt alone.

But statistics prove she’s only one example of a widespread problem.

During the 2008-09 school year, more than 15,000 students in the state were suspended and 442 expelled for bullying, harassment and intimidation. In Clark County, 115 students were expelled for the offenses — more than the more populous King, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane counties — and 1,411 served suspensions.

Local and state officials don’t have any hard evidence as to why the number of students suspended and expelled for bullying is higher in Clark County. However, multiple people interviewed by The Columbian speculated as to what the cause may be. Perhaps Clark County school administrators are more diligent in handling complaints and enforcing district policies. Maybe districts in other counties emphasize more on the prevention and intervention, thus nipping the problem in the bud before it leads to expulsion. On the other hand, Clark County could simply have more kids bullying each other.

While each school is responsible for the discipline of students violating the bullying policy, in Evergreen Public Schools each school follows the same discipline matrix, said Scott Deutsch, the district’s risk manager. In general, the more a student engages in similar behavior, the steeper the punishment. School officials can also look at the individual circumstances and alter the matrix accordingly, he said.

“If it’s something extremely serious, especially if a weapon is involved, or it occurs repeatedly over a period of time and the student just isn’t getting it, it could lead to suspension or expulsion,” Deutsch said.

But the problem isn’t unique to Clark County.

The state’s 2008 Healthy Teen Survey, an anonymous survey conducted every two years, asked students if they had been bullied in the past 30 days. Statewide about 30 percent of sixth- and eighth-graders admitted to being bullied; 23 percent of 10th-graders and 16 percent of 12th-graders had the same response. The numbers in Clark County, and the percentage of students who said they were bullied while at school, mirrored the state statistics.

Those numbers have remained flat the last decade, meaning the situation isn’t getting worse, but it’s also not getting better.

“That’s quite a number of kids,” said Mike Donlin, a Seattle-area educator on bullying issues. “Suicides are really extreme, but that’s indicative of the fact that bullying really impacts kids. It’s not just a fun little thing that happens.”

State takes action

State legislators have called on the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to formulate and districts to implement stricter policies and procedures to combat bullying.

The state first required districts have bullying policies in place in 2003. In 2007, districts were required to include language on cyber-bullying. The new legislation, which must be adopted by school districts and submitted to OSPI by Aug. 1, 2011, requires all districts have procedures for responding to bullying complaints.

The Washington State School Directors’ Association currently offers model policies and procedures. Most districts in the state use those models, with many revising them to better fit their district, Donlin said.

OSPI and the association have been working with stakeholders to revise the bullying policy and procedures to serve as a blueprint for responding to bullying, said Jeff Soder, Safe & Drug Free School supervisor for OSPI. They are currently in the editing phase and the documents should be finalized by December, he said.

“The state hasn’t allocated resources to address bullying, partly because of the economy,” Soder said. “A relatively low-cost intervention is improving policies and procedures.”

The new policy and procedures include stronger language, encourage staff training and require educating staff, parents and students about the policy and method for reporting bullying, said Donlin, who worked with the state to draft the documents. The legislation also requires the district identify and provide contact information for a go-to person at the district level if parents or students feel the issue is not being handled by school administrators.

Identifying a district compliance officer may help address one problem with bullying policies and procedures identified by the Office of the Education Ombudsman. A special report by the office in December 2008 identified the top bullying-related reason parents contact the education ombudsman (61 percent) as the lack of school response to a bullying problem.

Formal, informal complaints

All of the Clark County districts use the state’s model policy and procedure on bullying, harassment and intimidation, some with slight revisions.

Harassment, bullying and intimidation is defined in the policies as any intentionally written message or image (including those that are electronically transmitted) or a verbal or physical act that harms a student or damages his or her property; could interfere with a student’s education; creates an intimidating or threatening environment; or substantially disrupts school operation.

Whenever an incident is reported to a school staff member — whether informally or by a formal, written complaint — the school administration is supposed to investigate the situation. In the informal process, school administration can address the complaint with the perpetrator, make a general public statement about bullying or take disciplinary action. The formal process requires a written report by the superintendent outlining any action to be taken, usually within 20 days.

“That’s paper. The next step is implementation and making it work,” Donlin said.

The model policies and procedures are good, he said, but it takes commitment, training and follow-through from all staff members to make the policies effective.

And that, Elhart said, is where her school fell short.

Elhart said she submitted written accounts of incidents and spoke to an assistant principal at Hudson’s Bay at least one day a week throughout her senior year. Whenever administrators asked the accused perpetrators about the claims, the accused denied the actions and administrators closed the case, Elhart said. Then, the accused made life for Elhart miserable.

Elhart said more than one staff member told her the school couldn’t do anything to help her unless the other student physically hurt Elhart or Elhart could prove more than verbal harassment was occurring.

“Even though it’s not physical abuse, mental and emotional abuse is horrible,” she said. “Especially in high school, you’re still trying to figure out who you are.”

When Elhart requested her student file in June, the school provided her with one piece of paper: a student statement describing one incident that occurred at school in April.

Vancouver Public Schools attorney Kathryn Murdock said the complaints were well-documented and is confident school administrators handled the situation appropriately. She would not discuss Elhart’s situation, even though Elhart offered written permission to discuss her student file.

“It would be inappropriate and unprofessional to be talking about an individual student in regard to actions that occurred a year ago,” Murdock said.

When asked by The Columbian to discuss the district’s bullying policies in general, spokeswoman Kris Sork said the district would not answer questions.

“We’re not going to participate in this story because you’re writing about a specific incident,” Sork said.

Education, awareness

Officials at other local districts all said bullying, harassment and intimidation are taken seriously.

Staff members are trained in recognizing and responding to bullying and students are informed of the districts’ bullying policies and procedures in the first few days of school, according to officials. Each school offers different methods of educating students about bullying, whether it’s school assemblies, classroom presentations and discussions, or posters and skits demonstrating appropriate behavior.

“If I went to any kid in the hallway and ask them, ‘Do you know what you should do if you are bullied?’ I would expect them to answer me and know exactly what steps they should take,” said Marcia Christian, assistant superintendent for human resources for Battle Ground Public Schools.

Christian emphasized the need for teachers to listen and investigate allegations of bullying, no matter how minor. Officials also encourage students to speak up if they see others being bullied.

“What we keep saying is, ‘Don’t put up with bullying,’” Christian said. “If you allow a kid to keep bullying, you’re basically telling them their behavior is OK.”

The problem, officials say, is when students don’t speak up.

“If we don’t know about bullying going on, we can’t take action,” said Rebecca Miner, assistant superintendent for Washougal School District.

Students who are being bullied don’t always report incidents because they want to handle the situations themselves, don’t want to make waves or provoke more bullying, officials said. Many who see others being bullied stay quiet to avoid becoming a target, Christian said.

However, that doesn’t mean the students don’t want to intervene, Donlin said.

“Those kids who see bullying happen but aren’t part of it, those kids by and large, 80 to 90 percent, feel awful,” he said. “They want to help. They want to do something.”

Implementation

The key to ensuring bullying is taken seriously is to take action, Donlin said.

“A well-implemented bullying intervention and prevention program works, but the fact is it takes training,” he said.

Training needs to include everyone from school custodians and bus drivers to teachers, parents and administrators, Donlin said. Consistency is also important. Complaints need to be documented, students need to be confronted about their behavior and parents need to be involved, Donlin said. Until school climates reflect a zero-tolerance for bullying and harassment, the problem will persist. Once students see inconsistency, the program falls apart, Donlin said.

While Elhart has physically moved on — she’s now a freshman at Washington State University — she’s still experiencing the effects of bullying.

She has a hard time trusting people after watching many of her friends turn their backs on her. She still receives voice mails and text messages from high school classmates making sexual comments. And she dodges former classmates with whom she now shares a college campus.

Elhart hopes sharing her story will encourage an increase in bullying education and policy enforcement in schools. And perhaps most importantly, she wants to prevent another student from experiencing her pain.

“I hope to change it,” she said. “Nobody should have to go through this.”

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.