The Problem With Bullying

A recent anti-bullying seminar at Brooklyn Borough Hall sponsored by Borough President Marty Markowitz and the city Department of Education aimed to raise awareness about the growing impact of bullying on children and teens. Speaking to a small crowd of parents, teachers and school officials, Markowitz joked about his own experiences as a child.

"Kids used to call me 'Porky,' " Markowitz said to laughs from the crowd. After his
opening remarks, the jokes turned to serious discussion. We live in a new era, he said, one that is far more vicious than earlier generations.

"There's enough challenges to providing a quality education for our kids," Markowitz said. "The psychological impacts are far greater than in those innocent days, that's for sure."

But if bullying has become worse in Brooklyn, some schools haven't noticed.

"I think in some ways it's more out in the open," said Alyce Barr, principal at the
in Carroll Gardens. "I don't mean that
bullies are bullying more out in the open, but that people are talking about it in a
way that they should be talking about it."

Barr says this sharper focus is part of the reason why there's a perception that
bullying has gotten worse, even if some schools in the neighborhood seem to believe that isn't the case.

"It [bullying] is at a minimum now," says Angela Grant, Guidance Counselor at the . According to Grant, a school uniform policy cut down bullying significantly.

"Trust me, I've been here nine years, and we used to deal with that everyday," Grant said of the bullying. "Now I get next to nothing in the school."

But the Department of Education does see a problem, and the Respect for All
initiative has been their answer. Respect for All was implemented in 2007 as a way to address bullying and harassment in schools. According to the Respect for All website, last year the department conducted its first annual audit of bias-related harassment incidents, concluding that about 13% of all bias-related incidents in schools "relate to engaging in intimidating and bullying behavior."

While some schools in Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill insist the
problem just isn't as serious as it's made out to be, Carissa Johnson, an English
teacher at , says the problem is real, though steps are being taken to curtail it. For example, in her school, bullies are punished with suspension, and parents are contacted. She says it's mostly a deterrent to the younger kids, which is exactly the point.

"They're trying to target the ninth and 10th-graders, because they'll build up the
culture," Johnson said. "They're actively trying to stop it. They're really trying."