Bullying Hits Home in Plymouth-Canton District

The headlines are hard to miss, with many detailing the horrifying consequences of bullying in schools around the nation.

A February bullying incident on the playground of recently put Plymouth-Canton Community Schools in the spotlight.

Ten-year-old Zachary Greenshields told WDIV-TV this month that kids sang a variation on the Barney the Dinosaur song to him in a way that threatened violence.

The lyrics: "I hate you, you hate me. Let’s get together and kill Zachary. With a big shotgun, shoot him in the head, guess what now, Zach is dead," Zachary told the station.

The incident was just another episode in escalating instances of bullying against the student who is in his first year with the district, the station reported.

Zachary's parents told WDIV-TV the bullying began in February on the school playground, where his jacket was ripped by another student on three separate occasions — the third time with a new coat. Afraid of getting his classmates in trouble, young Zachary told the school principal it was an accident.

Zachary's father, Dan Greenshields, told WDIV-TV they pulled Zachary from the classroom and are seeking an assignment to another school.

Frank Ruggirello Jr., the district's director of community relations, told the station the alleged bullies have been disciplined, but could not detail the punishments under state law.

Bullying addressed at national level

From the alleged catalyst for the Columbine High School shooting spree in 1999 to numerous suicides by bullying victims around the country, bullying is a topic now being addressed by leaders at both the local and national levels.

While local school districts look at ways to enforce anti-bullying measures, President Barack Obama this month introduced a 30-minute documentary on the subject on the Cartoon Network and Gov. Rick Snyder, himself a victim of bullying, signed into law an anti-bullying measure for Michigan in 2011.

Bullying doesn't all take place on the playground, however.

With the advent of social media and new media, cyberbullying has emerged as a relatively new threat.

Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers student, famously committed suicide in 2010 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, filmed Clementi's sexual exploits with another man and broadcast the events on the Internet.

Ravi was found guilty on 15 counts, including bias intimidation. The incident kicked off a viral "It Gets Better" video campaign helmed by sex columnist Dan Savage and his husband to offer encouragement and support to victims of bullying.

A local parent offers perspective on bullying in new Patch blog series

Jerry Grady, a Patch Local Voices blogger and Plymouth-Canton parent, kicked off a series this week on Plymouth and Canton Patch looking at the bullying issue from a parent's perspective.

"Studies will tell you this causes the victim to feel upset, afraid, ashamed, embarrassed, anxious, to lose confidence, deteriorate one's self-worth, all from the simple fact that a child wants to be the overall power kid," Grady writes. "Normally it is because, in my humble opinion, the child being bullied has something the bully doesn’t have, and normally that is a strong self-worth and big heart. The bully needs to tear down the strong one to prove to themselves, they have complete domination over him/her."

Grady says not all bullying happens on the schoolyard, and very little of it gets reported to parents or authority figures.

"Today’s social media has created an area of bullying that no one is properly trained on how to deal with," Grady writes. "Kids are smart, they figure out how to hide it, how to delete those text messages, and most importantly how to manipulate us parents."

Grady, who in his blog recounts being bullied as a youth, said he felt compelled to write on the topic after his family experienced bullying firsthand.

"I have become engaged on many levels as it relates to bullying because our family has endured bullying for the better part of six years," Grady wrote. "It is a journey that I would not wish on my own enemy, but is a journey that I must write about to help others understand."

Seminar at Madonna University hopes to prompt understanding of cyberbullying

Officials at Madonna University in Livonia hope an upcoming seminar can communicate the understanding Grady hopes to achieve about the consequences of cyberbullying.

The seminar, Cyberspace: The New Frontier of Social Relationships, will take place from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on April 13 at Madonna University's Franciscan Center, 36600 Schoolcraft Road and is open to social workers, teachers, school administrators and counselors, parents, faculty members and social work students.

According to a news release from the school, the session will aid attendees in identifying, intervening and preventing cyberbulling.

The college reports that 43 percent of teens have reported being victims of cyberbullying in the past year, with girls more prone to being targets. Of that 43 percent, just 10 percent told their parents about the bullying.

Registration information is on Madonna University's website.

Resources available for bullying victims

For victims of bullying, identifying the problem can be easier than seeking a solution.

The federal government has created a website, www.stopbullying.gov, to provide a virtual toolkit for victims of bullying and their parents.

In cases of cyberbullying, the website recommends the following actions:

• Don’t respond to and don’t forward cyberbullying messages.
• Keep evidence of cyberbullying. Record the dates, times, and descriptions of instances when cyberbullying has occurred. Save and print screenshots, emails, and text messages. Use this evidence to report cyberbullying to web and cell phone service providers.
• Block the person who is cyberbullying.

In the event the cyberbullying escalates to violence or threats of violence or illegal activity, the website recommends contacting local law enforcement. Contacting school administrators also is recommended.

For victims of bullying who are feeling helpless, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, available by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), offers 24-hour counseling. Additional help is highlighted on the website's "Get Help Now" section.