With a new school year approaching, Brockton-based youth groups are calling on school district leaders to do more to address bullying.
Leaders of the Brockton Interfaith Community youth group said that over the last few years, elementary and middle school youth in their summer programs have repeatedly said bullying is a major problem. While some kids said school staff have addressed their problems, others complained about a lack of response or inadequate action.
This summer, the group decided to meet with Brockton Public Schools administrators about the issue. They want the district to beef up teacher training and improve how staff respond allegations brought by parents and students, including clearer standards for reporting.
“Bullying is still happening,” said Michaela Lauture, who runs the interfaith community’s program, Youth SOL. “We’re not going to just make a couple of policies and totally eradicate bullying. Our young people know that. What they want is: How do we get everybody really on the same page and hold everybody to the same standard?”
At a Brockton school cafeteria Tuesday morning, a rising sixth grader named Enzo Timas told more than 60 of his peers that he was bullied in fourth and fifth grade and got little help from the school staff. At one point, he says the cruelty was so severe he didn’t want to go to school.
“[The bully] wanted to make me feel bad about myself. This led to rude comments, teasing, gossiping, and physically assaulting me,” Timas said. “I told the teacher, and she talked to the girl, but the bullying did not stop.”
Timas said the summer program helped him to speak up, and he’s hopeful that his voice and others will make teachers and staff members more responsive.
James LaBillois, Brockton schools assistant superintendent, told students gathered in the cafeteria that the administration takes bullying seriously and understands that if students feel unsafe at school, they can’t learn.
“One of the key aspects of my role is ensuring the protection of everybody’s civil rights,” he said. “The reality that you all see this as a problem echoes the survey data [of students] that we see.”
However, students’ experiences and the district’s survey data are not reflected by what’s reported to the state. The district — which has more than 16,000 students enrolled — reported only 15 cases of alleged bullying incidents in the 2023-2024 school year, according to the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Lillabois said that improving how the district trains teachers in bullying prevention and responsiveness might require a conversation with the teachers’ union about their professional development.
