HOLLY -- Anti-bullying programs in schools can be effective, but experts say they're fighting a tide of violent culture on television, in the movies and on video games.
"A very substantial percentage of the population views bullying as a rite of passage," said Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists in Bethesda, Md. "It's going to take a while to change behavior."
Just this week, a 14-year-old student at Holly High School was charged for threatening terrorism for compiling a "kill list" of 12 people, including his mother. Acquaintances said the youth had been bullied repeatedly. His arrest came one day before a previously scheduled refresher course for staff on handling the bully issue.
The teasing and bullying went on despite the school's involvement in the School Violence Program of Oakland County, run by Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca's office. It's the only one of its kind run by a prosecutor's office in Michigan and has helped coordinate efforts to address and head off such aggressive behavior and school violence. Gorcyca believes the program is responsible for a significant reduction in bullying incidents, based on a survey of county schools.
Holly school officials, however, said they simply didn't know about bullying directed at the teen who was arrested.
While bullying has existed longer than schools themselves, the practice has come under intense scrutiny in recent years and is blamed as a major contributor to school shootings such as Columbine, and more recently, this week's killing of seven students at a high school in Red Lake, Minn.
"One of the common areas that binds all of the school shooters together is all of them were the victim of bullying. Their lives were made miserable," Feinberg said. "What we have also found is many of them felt there is no other recourse to stop this behavior other than going home and getting a weapon and taking care of the bullies in a dramatic and final way."
Friends of the Holly High teen, who is from White Lake Township, say he was repeatedly teased and bullied at the school. "No one would leave him alone," said freshman Eddie Martin, 15.
More than 2,500 educators have been trained at 161 schools, including 56 high schools, in Oakland County since April 2001 under the county prosecutor's program, said Dan Cojanu, the county's supervisor of victims' services. Holly High participated in the program.
The program attempts to help educators identify and address potential bullying problems, but Holly High Principal Dave Nuss said he was not aware of bullying toward the charged teen.
"We are not aware of any bullying or teasing type of behavior with this student," said Nuss, adding that bullying cases come up "maybe once or twice every couple of years."
The school, which has about 1,400 students, deals with the cases by counseling the aggressor to show why their behavior is wrong, he said. If the behavior continues, the student's parents are called, and if it persists, the school takes disciplinary action, including suspension.
"Usually it works," Nuss said of the process. "Those rarely end up in disciplinary action. It is usually cleared up with counseling measures."
The county program, funded with the aid of a federal grant program, is in jeopardy after its funding was cut from the 2006 federal budget.
"The president has cut juvenile justice grants, from which we received our funds for the program," Gorcyca said. "It's such an important program, we can't let it end. I don't have the funds in my own budget to handle it. It's possible we will have to look elsewhere to keep it going. I might go to the schools themselves. Then the Oakland County Board of Commissioners. Perhaps seek private funds, like corporate sponsorships to cover it.
"But with some of the things that are happening in our schools, it's clear there is a great need for such programs." Feinberg stressed that the programs are beginning to make an impact and should be spared.
"We know that kids are exposed to an enormous amount of violent stimuli on the Internet, television, movies and videos. There has been a desensitizing factor," he said. "Sometimes, the (bullying) victim finds a way to level the playing field. They see violence in the media and think that's how to deal with problems."
Nuss said he had never had any discipline problems with the teen and was surprised by the "kill list." He questioned whether the teen intended to follow through on the threats. "Up until now, he's been almost perfect," said Nuss, who earlier this year visited the teen in a local hospital after he injured his neck playing football for the school. "It was a surprise to many of us."
"I don't know what his intent was. That behavior seemed uncharacteristic," he said. "It is a very difficult time in society, and you can't make statements or write statements threatening the institution. There are no jokes in this regard. You can't use that kind of language. It's just a different type of world today."
The teen is being held in Children's Village awaiting a March 30 pretrial hearing. Police searched his home, but found no weapons. If convicted, he may be held at Children's Village until he is 19. An adult would face up to 20 years in prison on the charge. "He's paying dearly for his mistake," Nuss said.
Feinberg cautioned against a "knee-jerk" reaction and said the teen should be mentally evaluated before any judgment is made. (And put on PROZAC)
"It needs to be looked at instead of summarily deciding this kid is the next school shooter," he said. "A lot of kids' lives are being ruined by this. We need to take a close look at whether it is a viable threat; otherwise, we'll have a lot of false positives.
"Just simply punishing people runs the potential of creating a group of folks who use poor judgment and are incarcerated and learn what it really means to be a criminal."
