NSU Horizons Fall 2011

6 horizons SUPERB began as a project sup- ported by a major gift from Florida Senator Jeremy Ring and his wife, Sharon Ring, to NSU’s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences to develop a school-based antibullying program. It is now operated by the non- profit Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida’s Graduates. The program model eventually will be expanded throughout Florida, educat- ing the “entire school system,” said Aurélia Melloul Bickler, M.S., L.M.F.T., SUPERB’s clinical director and an NSU doctoral student. “Students, teachers, administrators, and parents are all being trained, espe- cially on how to develop an atmosphere of acceptance,” said Bickler. The National Association of School Psychologists states that 36 percent of boys and 38 percent of girls report being bullied once a week. As a result, many students skip school, which hampers their ability to do well; others withdraw and become isolated. “For decades, society has been in denial of the emotion- al and social consequences that individuals, especially children, experience due to bullying. Too often, it is accepted as simply a part of growing up,” said Anne Rambo, Ph.D., who helped to found SUPERB and is now its faculty supervi- sor. She is an associate professor in NSU’s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Scott Poland, Ed.D., associate pro- fessor at NSU’s Center for Psychological Studies, often is in demand to speak on the subject of bullying. “The media, after several high-profile tragedies, has used the term ‘bullycide’ to describe the death of a victim of repeated bullying who died by suicide,” said Poland. In 2009, Poland addressed Congress, where he proposed a comprehensive, community-based approach to curb bul- lying and school violence. He said that many educators are finally realizing the importance of being “organized, unified, and consistent” to do something about bullying in schools. “They know it is ultimately their responsibility,” said Poland, the author of several books on school violence. Cyberbullying An expert in cyberbullying, Meline Kevorkian, Ed.D., executive director of NSU’s academic review process, co-authored the book, 101 Facts About Bullying: What Everyone Should Know . National education organizations con- sider the book a vital resource for educators and parents. Her research, collected from third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders, found that approximately 27 percent of children worry about being bullied online, but only 12 percent had someone talk to them about online bullying. “It is like every child is armed with a potential weapon, but hasn’t been given the proper instruction on how to deal with these powerful technologies,” said Kevorkian, who also teaches a bully- ing prevention course at NSU’s Institute for the Study of Human Service, Health, and Justice. “We provide our children with cell phones for good reason, but we’re not having the necessary talks. We give children access to computers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” NSU experts agree that peer involvement is crucial in preventive measures, and that bystanders play as vital a role in bullying as the bully. When he counsels school administrators, Poland suggests programs to reach