Workshop focuses on bullying

At a Leavelle McCampbell Middle School PTO meeting earlier this year, several members expressed concern about issues their children are impacted by that are related to the Internet.

"Mothers realized their children are having to deal with bullying and peer pressure," said PTO president Monica Oliver, mother of a Leavelle seventh-grader. "It's scary to see some of the things our children are facing."

Oliver and other PTO members decided to do something about it. Earlier this week, they held an informational workshop that included Aiken County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jason Feemster and two Aurora Pavilion therapists, Jeannette Hanna and Leslie Brett.

Feemster discussed online stalking by predators. Brett described how traditional bullying remains but has given way to cyberbullying through email, texting and social media, such as Facebook. Peer pressure, too, has evolved, said Hanna - not so often the kind of direct confrontation where a teenager encourages another teen to try drugs, alcohol or sexual activity.

"We fail to educate kids about indirect peer pressure," Hanna said. "It's when everyone else is just doing things like dressing or acting in a certain way. A kid will say he wants to do this, too, because he doesn't want to stand out and be different."

Feemster said predators continue to prey on young girls through chat rooms or other Internet services. Parents have to be aware of what their kids are doing online, he said. His presentation included a video, which featured a young teenage girl who met a man online and later met him in person. Fortunately, they were caught at a bus terminal, and the man was arrested, but the girl remains fearful because of the personal information he has about her.

"I can't believe I did this," the girl said in the video. "You don't know what they're capable of. I'm lucky I'm not dead on the side of the road."

Aurora Pavilion maintains seven beds for kids with serious emotional disorders, Brett said. Many of the teens hospitalized there have had bullying issues.

"Bullying is a big problem, with 29 percent of kids saying they either are or have been victims of bullying," she said. "We've seen Facebook depression and the effects of bullying increase levels of stress and anxiety. Kids will beg for home-schooling because they don't want to be in school."

Bullying won't stop until adults get involved, Brett said. They are the ones who have the power to do something about it.

Several parents expressed concern about bullying impacting their children and the ability of schools to do something about it.

"We wanted to give our parents information on helping their children," said Leavelle Principal Dr. Lloydette Young. "We try to be diligent about tackling these problems. Students know they can come to any adult here."

Parent James Prescott said he appreciated that the school and PTO members making the effort to keep parents informed.

"Anytime they can help us be more knowledgeable about what's going on out there, I'm all for it," he said. "We want to give our kids some guidance and help protect them."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.