Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 27, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 7     (7 of 24 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 7     (7 of 24 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
October 27, 2011
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




Bullies Continued from page A-1 situations." In some cases, police become involved in cases of bullying or harassment among kids and teens. "It seems to come in swarms," said acting Lt. Virgil Pentz, from the Shel- ton Police Department. "It seems to be escalating everywhere in the country - that's why we have someone full-time out there." Pentz referred to Brent Dehning, who started in February as the Shelton School District's (SSD) dedicated School Re- source Officer (SRO), an SPD officer who maintains a presence among SSD build- ings. "We're there basically ... to make it a safer learning environment," Dehning said. "Everybody should have a right to get the education that they need and de- serve." Most issues at the high school level result from "male/female conflicts," Dehning said. Within only a few minutes on Oct. 13, three separate calls came in to Mason County law enforcement about violence or bullying in schools. The first involved an ongoing case of bullying at Olympic Middle School in Shelton, the second, a juvenile pull- ing a knife on fellow teens near Shelton High School, and the third, another inci- dent with a knife, at North Mason High School. October is National Bullying Preven- tion Month and Eric Barkman, principal of Olympic Middle School, said the school takes a serious stand to prevent bullying, such as that reported to the police on Oct. 13, throughout the school year. "We do a lot of things to address bully- ing," he said. "This is the worst age." Staff at the middle school works to teach students to avoid bullying, as well as teaching general good behavior and values in seminars, or "boot camps," at the beginning of the year. Students meet with counselors and administrators and sign anti-bullying contracts if they get into trouble. The school may also soon get a part- time counselor through Behavioral Health Resources (BHR), assistant prin- cipal Fran Stevens said. Despite the previous incident at North Mason, Principal Chad Collins said vio- lence is not a problem among students at his school. "Bullying/harassment occurs, but if we recognize it or are notified about it, we deal with it immediately," he said. "School counselors and building admin- istrators are usually able to deal with the~e situations quickly and effe~ctively." iI i ~grth Mason does not have a scho0i re: source officer, but Collins said the school's security guard is a very visible presence. "Administrators and our campus se- curity are very visible on campus build- ing relationships with students so if a problem arises, students feel comfortable talking with us," he said. Pentz said incidents involving weap- ons generally trigger a suspension from school and then a police investigation. However many issues go back to the school for punishment. "A knife is not classified as an illegal weapon," Dehning said. "That's going to be a school issue." Also, if two students agree to fight, the most Dehning can charge them with is disorderly conduct. Often it makes more sense to refer punishment to the school, he said. While there are no dedicated SROs in the Mason County Sheriffs Office, depu- ties often participate in programs to help reduce bullying in schools. "They were out here helping us with fourth-eighth grade, building awareness," said Pioneer school counselor Sharon Kadlub. "They talked about the importance of not doing harassment ... and the con- sequences," Kadlub said. "It was really Journal photo by Natalie Johnson Shelton Police Officer Brent Dehning is the School Resource Officer for the Shelton School District. He works with students and district staff to prevent and address violence and criminal activity at schools. well-received." While the Pioneer School District is being proactive, she said bullying is not a major issue there. "I don't see it as a huge problem - there are certainly problems with kids who tease and it gets out of hand," she said. Many school staff members said the biggest obstacle in their path is that many victims of bullying do not report it. "Our biggest problem is kids don't re- port it," Stevens said. "I feel like we're really successful if we know." Often in bullying cases social network- ing sites like Facebook, and even text messaging, come into play. The possible gun threat at OBJH first came to light through a Facebook post. "Social networking sites have added a very complicated aspect to bullying, where students will post some content they probably shouldn't or don't really mean and then that conflict often ends up at school," Collins said. "If this interrupts the educational process, we deal with it immediately. If law enforcement is need- ed, we call them." Dehning said he had also come across problems worsened by text messaging. "It is so easy with all the instant mes- saging now to get it riled up and then ev- :@ Available TODAY in tjour Sunday newspaper and online at Totjsrus.corn. Shop 80 wow-packed pages with hundreds of toys tjou w,II find only at Toys"R'°Us! e Save BIG with over 50 FREE offers! - Take home the hottest toys of the season- many ONLY available at Toys"R°°Us! - Create tjour ultimate wish List! - Enjoy our Biggest Rewards"R'°Us Offer Ever! Earn 10% back on all holiday purchases 10/30 through 12/24/11.* *Certain restrictions and exclusions apply. See The Great Big Toys"R"Us Book for details. •, ,,,, • erybody gets on the bandwagon," he Said: : : ..... : : have fishing supplies! "Instead of a 'he said, she said,' you've got 40 people with it on their phone." Although some national media re- ports show bullying as an epidemic hit- ting schools nationwide, Mason County schools and police said they have the is- sue under control with a variety of educa- tional and counseling programs, and also with support.from local law enforcement. "It is very helpful for us to have an SRO on campus," Berndtston said. "It al- lows our students to see a Shelton police ffficer on a daily basis ... as another posi- tive role model." Both Berndtston and Collins said that they would not advocate for more secu- rity, in the form of a metal detector, at their schools. "We have a no-tolerance approach to weapons," Berndtston said. "I do not see a reason for a metal detector at SHS. We have great students who d() not de- serve to have a campus that looks like a prison." In the end, bullying is as old as his- tory, and is not likely to stop anytime soon. All schools can do is address the problems as they come up. "Schools are never going to be able to stop this from happening," Dehning said. "Bullying has always gone on." Skokomish Indian Tribal Enterprises (S.I.T.E.) 19390 North U.S, Hwy. 101 Skokomish Nation, WA 98584 @ At the intersection of Hwy. I01 & Hwy. 106 minutes north of Shelton on the Skokomish Indian Reservation Located next to the Lucky Dog Casino • 427-9099 STORE & DELl SPECIALS- OCT 27- NOV 2 ...... ~:i~~:~+:'° ~i~iii' ........ +60" Monster $1.99 Ea. or 3/ 5 16 oz. 3-piece | Red Bull ..... Chicken S199 Ea. & Jo Jo + ......... ~ 8.3 oz. $3.50 or2/+3.50 Assorte~ Varieties Pep 12 pk. 12 oz. cans P mis i ii ............ ~!~~~ I Coffee I l Next .... I $1.09 24 oz. I SURGEO GmERAUSWARmG: I i:ii+::J i: 99¢ 20 oz ICigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide, I ~" ~ I ii': !. 89¢ I0 oz. Candidates she said. now on. Cronce, who has been al- "I will not speak any Continued from page A-1 lowed to testify at several more at meetings," he said. commission meetings since "In campaigns, emotions "Whoever's running that he announced his candida- get raised ... As far as I'm meeting should tell them cy for mayor, said he would concerned it's water under that's not appropriate," follow the state law from the bridge." f-~ ...... .-,-~ LUBRICANTS ~.~ ! L L~L k.~.~ COMPANY We deliver ', COMPARE OUR LOW PRICES! We carry kerosene. Located at Sanderson -------.- Industrial Park 8761 I I Shelton-Mason County Journal -Thursday, October 27, 20111 - Page A-7