District Attorney Adam Levy Addresses the crowd.
On February 3, the District Attorney’s office participated in Hope Forum III, “Bullying Prevention - Crime Prevention”, at Mahopac High School in Putnam County. An annual program put on by the high school, this year’s Hope Forum was part of an anti-bullying campaign launched by Putnam District Attorney Adam Levy in the fall of last year.
District Attorney Levy said, “Since taking office in 2008, I’ve been contacted by countless parents and school administrations who wanted to know what we were doing as a law enforcement community to address the issue of bullying—both in school and online.” Rather than wait for a tragic case of suicide, he reached out to all School Superintendents in Putnam. When Thomas Manko, Superintendent of the Mahopac School District, immediately responded, Hope Forum III became an occasion “to begin a dialogue with students, parents, and local leaders, in an effort to educate the community about the topic of bullying and to be educated by those who have gone through the process.” What was ultimately needed, he said, was a change in culture.
As well as punishing those who prey on their fellow classmates, said District Attorney Levy, it was his hope that beginning the dialogue would reduce the number of people who start their criminal careers by bullying others. According to a recent study by The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, an estimated 60% of bullies will have a criminal record before the age of 24.
Underscoring his point was a heartfelt speech by 15-year-old Olivia Cowan, a Mahopac High student who continually bullied a female classmate she eventually assaulted. After going to Putnam Family Court and being put on probation, she returned to school only to find herself the object of bullying, and became depressed enough to attempt to end her life. She took the opportunity to apologize to her classmate, also present at Hope Forum III, and cautioned the audience, “Parents, remember: Your children need you.” Her former victim told the audience, “It’s the responsibility of parents to speak to their children about bullying.”
The event drew a crowd of about 200 people, including student, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens. Elected officials also attended the forum, including U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congresswoman for New York Nan Hayworth and New York State Senator Greg Ball. “It’s up to all of us in our community, including our elected officials, to take a stand against schoolhouse bullies to ensure that our children are provided with a safe and nurturing environment with which to learn,” said District Attorney Levy. Both Congresswoman Hayworth and State Senator Ball acknowledged the devastating and long-lasting psychological effects that repeated bullying can have on our youth and thanked the Mahopac School District and District Attorney Levy for highlighting the topic for the community.
Participating in Q&A with the audience was a panel of twelve experts including Superintendent Manko and other members of the Mahopac School District, representatives from law enforcement and the judiciary, mental health providers, community-based resource providers, and local officials including Deputy County Executive John Tully, County Legislator Anthony DiCarlo, and Susan Spear, Hudson Valley Regional Director for Sen. Gillibrand. Joseph DeMarzo, Executive Director for the Putnam County Mental Health/Youth Bureau, and Kristin Cafiero, Director of The National Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies, presented “Bullying 101”, a primer on bullying including types of bullying, websites where it typically takes place, its repercussions, and best practices in response to it. Another presentation, by Val Nierman, Mahopac Central School District Health Coordinator, detailed what the schools in Putnam are doing to prevent and address bullying, including prevention education, a restructured guidance department, diversity and inclusion staff development, and activities by student organization, such as the Gay Straight Alliance.
Following the presentations, audience members seated at tables held “break-out” sessions to discuss their own experiences with bullying and thoughts on what policies and procedures were needed in the schools to deal with it. An energized audience posed questions to the panel about a number of issues, including sending sexually explicit photos over the Internet. District Attorney Levy cautioned recipients of such photos against forwarding them, in order to avoid becoming part of a crime themselves. Val Nierman commented that such photos have caused their subjects to later lose college scholarships.
Other issues discussed by the panel included the status of laws in New York regarding bullying (those 16 and over are tried as adults), the tendency of victims to become blamed for being bullied, and school practices that need to be improved to provide transparency to both students and parents regarding the investigation and punishment of bullying. These topics and more will be addressed in future postings on this blog.
Noting that with his last name he was bullied a lot as a child, Sen. Ball told the audience that when it comes to bullying, “Peer leadership among students is the most important. Factor.” He also discussed a new anti-bullying bill of which he is co-sponsor, along with New York State Senator Steve Saland, which calls for requiring all school employees to reports instances of bullying, and for elevating penalties for hazing.
School officials commented that a move to create new codes of conduct regarding bullying was under way. And regarding the need for peer leadership among students, James Reitz, Putnam County and Family Court Judge, suggested that if students created a seminar on bullying, they could be assured of being heard by all other parties involved in the effort to mitigate bullying.
District Attorney Levy said, “I’m not so naive to believe that we will ever completely eradicate school bullying. However, we can start by educating our community about the laws as they pertain to bullying and the resources available to victims and parents when things go wrong. It’s not easy to change current culture. However, over the last 30 years, we have seen a dramatic change in the way the public views cigarette smoking, drinking and driving and domestic violence matters. We need to begin to change current culture and send a message that bullying is wrong and will not be tolerated, either in school or online. For those who don’t get the message, they will suffer the consequences.”
