Hermitage schools adopt formal anti-bullying policy

The policy goes beyond the obvious physical characteristics of bullying.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The city school board has adopted a formal anti-bullying policy to coincide with the launch of the district's anti-bullying campaign in October.
The board gave its approval to five identical policies Monday, one each for the administrative staff, teachers, support staff, pupils and the curriculum.
They all describe bullying as a pattern of aggressive, repetitive and deliberate behavior by a person or group intending to inflict physical, emotional or other harm on another person or group.
Examples of physical bullying would be assault, taunting or unwanted contact but there are other, less obvious types of bullying such as social isolation, spoken or written rumors, threats, name calling and even teasing that are listed in the district policy.
October campaign
Superintendent Karen Ionta said the policy is in line with the districtwide anti-bullying campaign to be launched in October.
Ionta, who came up with the idea more than a year ago, said that schools need to teach children to be empathetic to others' feelings and that Hermitage has the means to do that.
It's not that Hermitage has more of a problem than any other district, she said. It's that she wants the district to be proactive on the issue, Ionta said.
"Stop the Sting of Bullying" is the theme for the fall push, and the curriculum logo features the Hickory Hornet, the school mascot.
The committee organizing the campaign developed the policy as well as pupil survey and report forms. The plan is to incorporate the anti-bullying campaign into the regular education programs on a yearlong basis.
Pupils will be asked to sign an awareness pledge and will be given T-shirts bearing the campaign logo to kick off the program.