11 investigates bullying in local school districts

As children head back to school, many parents are concerned about the potential for bullying in their kids' classrooms.

"I just think of other people harassing kids for something that they can't control," said Diane Thompson, who lives in Regent Square.

Many parents assume that every school deals with bullying in one form or another.

"I think when you project your way into your kids future you're always hoping they don't encounter certain things,” said Clair Beams, an Edgewood resident.

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But according to data submitted by school districts to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, it’s not a problem.

Out of the 4,200 students in Bethel Park School District, 35 incidents of bullying were reported for the 2015-2016 school year.

Norwin School District, which has one thousand more students, reported zero incidents of bullying.

More than half of the 116 school districts in the Greater Pittsburgh area told state officials they didn't have deal with a single incident of bullying.

"Many children who are bullied in adolescence will not report it. The impetus has to be taken on the part of the school district or the teacher,” Keely Baronak, the Carlow University Education Department chair, said.

She said it's not surprising there's such a wide variety of bullying reported because it can be interpreted differently by administrators who report the data.

She believes a better way to get a handle on the problem is to get input directly from the source.

"I think it would be really interesting to start triangulating data from students themselves. They will self-report when asked a lot of times and that's where you get some of the really interesting research,” she said.

Regardless of the numbers, bullying is an issue schools leaders say they are taking seriously.

When students return to the classroom next  week at Regency Park Elementary School in Plum, they will have a new program focused on reducing bullying.

Jeff Hadley, the principal in charge of implementing the program, said it will focus on student interactions.

"If we have kids treating each other right way, inevitably you're going to reduce things like bullying,” said Hadle.

Clare Beams, whose oldest daughter begins pre-school this fall, is happy to see a program like this being put in place.

"You never quite know what's setting up a long-term impact and what just a miserable season is for a kid,” said Beams.

Channel 11 also talked to State Education Secretary Pedro Rivera about the issue.

"I would hope anytime an incident is reported to a school they're following up accordingly. If they're not, I want parents to contact the main office or contact the school district office,” said Rivera.

Cox Media Group