Maryland Schools Focus Attention on Cyberbullying

Sameer Hinduja trained Howard County teachers in April on cyberbullying tactics.
(Photo by Tim Ebner / Capital News Service)

By Tim Ebner Capital News Service

COLUMBIA – Howard County school administrators have spent the last decade training teachers and students to identify and report cases of bullying, and some education officials consider the county to be a leader in bullying prevention in Maryland.

But the suicide death of Grace McComas, a 15-year-old Glenelg High School student, has raised questions about the effectiveness of the county's bullying prevention efforts.

Grace, who committed suicide on April 8th -- Easter Sunday -- was the target of cyberbullying attacks from her peers.

"i hatehatehatehatehatehatehate you. Next time my name rolls off your tongue, choke on it.. and DIE," read an August 31st Twitter post by an unidentified student that was directed at Grace.

Every day, elementary, middle and high school students use social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Tumblr to connect with friends. But some students use them to disparage classmates, sometimes with serious consequences.

Because the attacks can be made anonymously -- frequently off school grounds -- administrators said it's hard to track online bullies.

Grace's parents have documented the cyberbullying that lead-up to their daughter’s suicide.

In her first public appearance following Grace's death, her mother Chris McComas discussed the months of cyberbullying attacks at an anti-bullying forum at Howard High School earlier this month. Many of the attacks used offensive language and threatened her daughter's life, she said.

“We were constantly told to fill out a bullying report,” Chris McComas said. “But Grace was intimidated and frightened and did not want us to fill out the form for fear of retaliation.”

After their daughter’s death, the McComas family launched an online campaign to help parents, teachers and students deal with this new form of bullying.

In a note added to the Grace K. Memorial Web page on Facebook, Chris McComas, who created the page, wrote:

“No longer does a bully say something nasty in the schoolyard and the child goes home to his sanctuary. Instead, [cyberbullying] is pervasive and invasive. . . It is gossip and hatred at the speed of electronic media, as close as their cell phone or computer screen.”

In Maryland, teachers and students can file an official report on a traditional schoolyard bully. But experts said it’s more difficult to stop a cyberbully.

If the attack happens off school grounds or is posted anonymously, it may be impossible for the school district to find and punish the bully.

“[Maryland] law on cyberbullying doesn’t cover as much as it could. Off-campus behaviors are not subject to penalty, and there is no criminal offense,” said Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a professor at Florida Atlantic University. “Policies can also vary from school-to-school. . . parents are really the first line of defense.”

In the weeks following Grace's death, Hinduja conducted two separate anti-bullying training sessions at Howard High School.

Hinduja trained a group of Howard County parents and more than 500 faculty and staff members. The workshop taught both groups how students can use technology to bully.

“We still have parents and professionals that don’t want to deal with it, but the Internet is a part of kids’ daily lives,” Hinduja said.

While he said it’s important for states to get cyberbullying laws on the books – states like Maryland prohibit harassment by electronic communication -- it’s also important for schools to build a culture where students respect each other and stand-up to bullying, he said.

Students wear #blue4grace

Almost immediately after Grace's death, students banded together to form an anti-bullying campaign on Twitter, the same site used to torment her.

The viral social media campaign, identified by Grace’s favorite color, blue, and the Twitter hashtag, #blue4grace, has spread far beyond Howard County.

Supporters now wear blue t-shirts and wristbands to commemorate Grace's life.

“Ironically, it was a group started in cyber land that spread [it] far and wide,” said Lori Blonchek, the president of Glenelg High School's parent teacher student association in an email. “It was very heartwarming to see the students at Glenelg High School, as well as the surrounding community coming together to support the family in the loss of their beautiful daughter.”

More prominent figures, including several well-known anti-bullying advocates, like Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, American Idol singer Lauren Alaina, and Maryland First Lady Katie O’Malley have also supported the #blue4grace campaign.

In early-May, Rice hosted an anti-bullying town hall at Howard High School. The event brought together the McComas family, state and county leaders and students to discuss ways to prevent bullying.

“For us and our daughters it was a godsend to have the support,” Chris McComas said. “Grace was actually a Ray Rice fan. She literally would say, ‘I will marry him someday.’"

Reality of cyberbullying not captured

In 2008, Maryland passed a law creating a statewide policy on bullying. The policy applies to all of Maryland’s 24 school districts and allows county school boards to add stricter sanctions.

In Howard County, students can be punished for out-of-school cyberbullying if it affects a student's ability to learn while in school. The consequences range from parent conferences to expulsion.

The Howard County school system said this week that it had completed an investigation into Grace's bullying case and that it had taken "appropriate action." The county declined to release details citing student confidentiality.

At the state level, the policy covers “electronic communication” from devices like telephones, cell phones, computers and pagers. The policy also dictates that bullying must be officially reported when it occurs on school grounds, at school-sponsored events and on school buses.

During the last school year, there were 4,678 reported cases of bullying in Maryland schools, an increase of 860 from 2010. But only a small fraction of reported – 8 percent of those cases – involved electronic communication.

State school officials said the true percentage of cases that involve cyberbullying cases is likely higher, because the reporting form does not ask detailed questions about each incident. Also, officials said, some districts likely underreport cases because it makes their schools look bad.

“[A teacher from the Anne Arundel County school systems] told me that he’s been told by the school administrator-principal at his school that he’s not to fill out the incident reports for bullying when there is an incident because it makes their numbers look bad, and it puts a poor reflection on the school,” O'Malley said in an interview. “This isn’t about saying if the school is good or bad, it’s about protecting our kids.”

State school officials also said they expect large numbers of cyberbullying attacks go unreported.

“Anecdotally, you hear from people in districts all over the state that this is a big issue. In many ways the reporting does not capture the reality of how much cyberbullying is going on,” said Chuck Buckler, director of student services and alternative programs for the Maryland State Department of Education.

Buckler also said that questions on the state’s bullying reporting form may need to be updated to reflect how kids use technology.

Focusing on suicide prevention

While cases of cyberbullying can go unreported, school officials said it’s important not to assume that cyberbullying leads directly to suicide.

In Howard County, school administrators said they act on information that they receive on a case-by-case basis.

“There’s no one factor for a person to take a life,” said Pam Blackwell, director of student services for Howard County Public Schools. “In addition to bullying, we need to look closely at suicide prevention strategies.”

A 2010 report from the Cyberbullying Research Center indicates that cyberbullying and traditional bullying may increase the likelihood of suicide or suicidal thoughts, but often the bullying is paired with other mental health factors, like depression or other psychological factors.

“Not to belittle cyberbullying, but there are numerous factors to why someone would take their own life,” Hinduja said. “Other key factors can be linked and should be addressed.”

Building a culture of respect

Students must feel confident enough to intervene when they see someone being bullied, O’Malley said.

At Howard High School, the school has placed signs and banners in the front hallway to ensure students get the message.

“Respect It's a 2 Way Street,” read one sign.

Hinduja said students and teachers must build a strong community based on respect to shut down bullies.

In late-April the Howard high students staged an organized “freeze mob,” where participants froze in the hallway between classes to show solidarity against bullies.

Across Maryland students are beginning to spread a message that bullying does not have to be tolerated, O’Malley said.

“The one thing that we really need to teach the kids, who are not being bullied and who are not bullies, is that they all need to be witnesses and stand-up when they see it,” O’Malley said. “The more children that stand-up and say this has got to stop . . . and take a stand against it; they’re really going to be protecting people, future Grace McComases.”