Sonoma Valley school district takes steps to prevent bullying

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District highlighted steps it has taken to address bullying and cyberbullying as part of National Bullying Prevention Month in October.

One of the main actions is implementation of a system designed to help students, parents, teachers and others to report bullying, cyberbullying and other issues of concern to school officials.

“STOPit provides an anonymous platform for anyone in the community to report instances of bullying,” said Jillian Beall, the district’s director of educational services, student wellness and inclusion. “Site administrators are then notified and able to respond and intervene.”

The online, app-based system is designed for sixth through 12th grade students.

An Incident Response Center monitors, manages and immediately escalates life-threatening concerns and incidents every day, all day. A Crisis Text Line integrated into the mobile app provides immediate access to more than 27,000 trained mental health counselors.

STOPit users receive standard and customized reporting outputs according to their specific needs.

Beall said raising awareness around bullying and cyberbullying is a key component of proactively approaching this nationwide issue.

“All students have the right to a safe, supportive and positive learning environment,” she said. “As a district, we are focused on building supportive, welcoming and safe spaces in which students can feel comfortable to seek help and report situations of mistreatment.”

Beall said that in addition to STOPit, students can report incidents to a trusted adult on a school campus, share with a family member who can reach out to the school site for follow-up, and connect with site administers and counselors.

“Reporting acts of mistreatment is important and we want to ensure there are multiple avenues for students and families to make a report,” she said. “Another important piece of this is when students see other students being mistreated, they report that, as well.

“We highlight the importance of ‘If you see something, say something,’ as we want to foster supportive, inclusive communities that prioritize the physical and emotional safety of all.”

An article in the district’s October newsletter notes the important roles that the school wellness centers at Sonoma Valley High School/Creekside High School, Adele Harrison Middle School and Altimira Middle School play in helping students who experience bullying or cyberbullying. The centers welcome students to drop in throughout the school day to receive one-to-one service from staff members or participate in groups.

“In responding the reports of mistreatment, wellness staff are available to help students understand the process of making a report, supporting their feelings about making the report and any other needs that arise,” said Camille Garcia, a social worker for the school district who primarily supports the Sonoma Valley High School/Creekside High School Wellness Center. “Additionally, wellness staff, as well as all school district site administrators, are trained in proactive and responsive restorative practices, which can help support an individual who is experiencing harm, based on identified needs.”

Garcia said that at the high school wellness center, mistreatment is not the most common issue that staff deal with, and that it usually is reported by colleagues who have identified or suspect that it is occurring.

“When a student comes to us or are referred to us, we follow the student’s lead on what they would like to talk about,” she said. “Most often, we help students navigate the challenges of meeting demands from multiple domains of their lives, as students are tasked with many responsibilities while still wanting to enjoy the more enjoyable aspects of being a young person.”

The article in the newsletter also suggests that parents and guardians can help students who experience bullying and cyberbullying by providing guidance and support.

“Connecting with your children and learning about their school experience provides an opportunity to detect any signs of bullying or other challenges your student faces,” the article states. “Please let the school know if such incidents occur.”

More suggestions to prevent bullying can be found here and additional information about bullying and cyberbullying can be found here.

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.