Bullying a hot topic as schools resume - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

It's back to school day for many students in Central Indiana. If your child doesn't go back to class today, they will surely be starting back in the next couple of weeks.

A new school year is a fresh start - not just for students starting a new grade - but for parents as well.  One of the issues that's sure to come up is bullying.  And it's something schools and state lawmakers are looking at very closely.

Many remember the viral video of a New York school bus monitor bullied by students. Four middle school students were suspended for a year and required to go through a bullying prevention program.
    
Prevention is what educators discussed during a recent symposium to find out how we deal - and should deal - with bullying in Indiana.

"We need to talk about our students," said Butler University's Brandie Oliver. "We need to talk to our teachers. We need to talk to our administrators, parents, bus drivers - it's not one specific population. It really has to be looked at from a global perspective, and educating all partners in our students' lives. But I think the other piece that's really important is starting young, and developing empathy in our students. We have to be able to develop those core skills of what it's like to walk in another person's shoes."

So the big push in schools now is educating students and parents about the signs of bullying, especially when it comes to cyber bullying.
  
Changes may come in the next legislative session. Bullying is a difficult issue for schools to wrap their arms around because often it happens off school property. It's currently not addressed in Indiana's law against bullying, but that's likely to change.

"Under the current law, cyber bullying can be prohibited if on school computers, but not prohibited if not owned and operated by school," according to Indiana GOP Representative Eric Koch. "So there will be tweaks required under Indiana law if we're serious about getting rid of the problem."

"In Kentucky, they actually criminalize bullying by putting it as harassment," said Bully Safe Indiana's Joel Hand, suggesting Indiana lawmakers look at Kentucky's law.