Middletown Has A Problem With Bullying: School Board Member

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — "I can't sit here and pretend we don't have a problem with bullying in this district."

Thus spoke Jacqueline Tobacco at the most recent Middletown school board meeting, held last Wednesday night, when the Board introduced its controversial new policy limiting when students can use cell phones in school.

In the last three months of the school year, there were 100 HIB (harassment, intimidation and bullying) reports filed in Middletown public school district, said Board member Gary Tulp. One in three of those reports involved a cell phone (cell phone camera or video), a social media app or an online chat, he revealed.

"That requires action. Not just a hope things will change," he said. "This is an emergency confronting our kids right now."

"I can't sit here and pretend we don't review HIBs every month that include pictures of what our students are doing to bully other students, within our school buildings — in the hallways, in the bathrooms, in the classrooms," added Tobacco. "There has been more than one instance of a kid being videotaped going to the bathroom ... You are irreparably harmed when you are a victim like that. And we have had very bad outcomes in this entire state due to bullying."

Last month, the Middletown school district (and the Board of Ed.) was sued by the parents of Jocelyn Walters, the 14-year-old Middletown girl who took her own life after months of relentless bullying from other teen girls — bullying and teasing done, in part, on social media and in text messaging, her parents say.

No Board member will comment on the wrongful death lawsuit.

But Tobacco and other Board members did say publicly that limiting kids' use of cell phones in school is one step the district can take to address cyber bullying.

"As a board member, I have to watch videos of kids being humiliated over and over again by phones," said Tobacco. "I feel like it's my responsibility to take a step towards trying to control what goes on in school buildings."

"According to the parents I've talked to, this is a deeply needed thing," said Board member Kate Farley, who wrote and introduced the policy. "This will benefit our students both academically and socially."

Tulp said:

Kids and teens today "have a mental health crisis fueled by the anxiety that social media fosters, by constantly barraging our kids with the requirement that they are always comparing their lives to that of their peers. This is us doing something about the rampant bullying that festers on social media, where faceless tormentors thrive in the shadows."

Not All Agree With Middletown's Proposed Cell Phone 'Ban' In Schools (July 3)

Middletown Board Of Ed. Introduces Cell Phone Ban In Schools (June 26)

Parents Of Bullied Girl Who Died By Suicide Sue Middletown District (June 14)