In recent years, a string of high-profile bullying incidents, some ending in violence or early suicide, has forced the topic into the national conversation. Following a particularly disturbing instance of bullying at Middle School 80 on Mosholu Parkway three months ago has brought the conversation to the local level.

Back in March, a 14-year-old girl who attended MS 80 was attacked by one of her fellow classmates. The attack was so severe that she had to be hospitalized and the attacker was arrested and charged with assault as a juvenile.

As a result of the incident, parents criticized the school principal Emmanuel Polanco for his supposed lack of control over the children at the school. Parents, local residents and union members even protested outside the school calling for Polanco to step down.

In response, on May 17 and on June 14, Bronx Community Board 7 hosted two public forums addressing bullying problems in the Bronx. The first forum was held inside the recreation center at St. James Park. The second forum, on June 14, was hosted at MS 80, where Polanco opened his doors for the community to voice their concerns about the issue. Guest speakers included police from the 52nd Precinct, ministers from local churches, and various other members of the community who offered solutions to the bullying problem.

Walter Bell, the chairperson of the Youth Services/Public Safety & Quality of Life committee at Community Board 7, said the guest speakers talked about how they were taking steps to prevent this violence from happening. The 52nd Precinct, for example, said they would try to interact with the local schools more. A representative of the Women’s Empowerment Self-Defense Academy said they wanted to start empowerment programs in schools as well as set up an anti-bullying hotline.

Cecelia Donovan, a parent leader at MS 80, attended the forum as well. She said the general message was one of vigilance and looking out for one another.

“Most of the speakers talked about really paying attention to what the children are doing,” said Donovan when describing the forum. “A lot of people look the other way when these type of things happen, and I don’t want to sound like the solution is a one-liner but ‘look out for each other’ was part of the theme they were trying to get across.”

However, Donovan also expressed her disappointment over the turnout at the event. She said that there weren’t enough people who were affected by this problem in the audience and that there wasn’t an opportunity for everyone to ask questions at the end.

“I think there would have been a much better turnout at MS 80 if children who had been bullied at the school, as well as the community at large were made aware of the event. Not even staff inside the school knew it was happening there.” said Donovan.

Though many parents continue to see bullying as a problem, the Department of Education (DOE) said the rate of bullying incidents has actually gone down this past year. According to the DOE, students actually feel safer than they did six years ago.

“Since 2007, the percentage of students stating that ‘students threaten or bully other students at school,’ ‘most of the time’ or ‘all of the time’ has decreased by 10 percentage points, and last year, 90 percent of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘I am safe in my classes,’” said Marge Feinberg, a spokesperson for the DOE, in an email.

“Our partnership with the NYPD School Safety Division, the prevention and intervention work we are doing in our schools, and the changes to our Discipline Code have all contributed to a continued reduction in crime, a decrease in the number of behavioral incidents in our schools, and a decrease in both principal and superintendent suspensions this year as compared to the same period last year,” she added.

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.