From the Dean
Mrs. Wendy A. Cora, MA

For more information, please click on the following links.

DEFINITIONS

NO BULLYING

HOW WE HANDLE BULLYING

WHAT SHOULD PARENTS DO IF THEIR CHILD COMPLAINS ABOUT BULLYING?

POWER BEHAVIORS

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TEASING & BULLYING

CYBERBULLYING

FACEBOOK

Additional Links

MY DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN

Does your child complain of being teased at school?  “Teasing” is a normal part of a middle school student’s quest to maintain social status and build new relationships.  If the “teasing” becomes repetitive in nature, hurts your child academically, physically or emotionally, or interferes with their normal behavior – the “teasing” has escalated to bullying and must be stopped. 

The 2009 Indicators of School Crime and Safety collected statistics from a variety of studies which showed that:

• One third of teens reported being bullied at school.
• About 20% of teens had been made fun of by a bully, 18% of teens had rumors or gossip spread about them, 11% of teens were physically being bullied, 6% were threatened, 5% were excluded from activities, 4% were coerced into something they did not want to do, 4% had their personal belongs destroyed by bullies.
• Only about a third of bully victims reported the bullying to school officials
• About 2 of every 3 bully victims were bullied once or twice during the school year, 1 in 5 were bullied once or twice a month, and about 1 in 10 were bullied daily or several times a week.
• 44% of middle schools reported bullying problems, compared to just over 20 percent of both elementary and high schools.

At LCMS, we strive to empower our students and prevent this type of behavior.  Research has shown that interventions are a great deterrent to bullying.  LCMS practices a variety of intervention strategies:  we’ve increased our supervision on campus and limited socialization areas in the mornings, we provide videos each month to educate our students on what bullying really is and how to help stop it and our homeroom teachers teach lessons on respect twice monthly as research has shown that respectful students are much less likely to bully than are students who are not taught this key character trait.  LCMS also provides education to empower bystanders to jump in and help should they see a child being bullied.  Should your child complain of being “teased” at school, you should first check to see if the “teasing” is repetitive in nature.  If so, encourage your child to file an official report with school administration. 

Students can file a report by going to the Dean’s office in building 4, emailing the Dean at wendy_cora@scps.k12.fl.us, leaving the Dean a voice mail at 407-871-7037, or leaving a note for the Dean. 

Please read through this webpage for further information on the Seminole County Public School’s definition of bullying, how to report alleged bullying, steps the Dean takes when bullying is reported, and ways to help empower your child in an effort to prevent bullying from occurring.