The Issue of Cyberbullying in the Westerly Public-School System

By Natalie Ritacco

Officer Frank Brancato, a school resource officer at Westerly High School, keeps an eye out for students who are bullied and helps them get counseling and support.

“All school systems have strict guidelines on bullying and they have to have protocols in place, such as state laws,” Brancato said.

Westerly High School has drop boxes on the walls, so students can report bullying anonymously.

“They have anonymous drop boxes within the high school so that if you want to stay anonymous you can write anything on a piece of paper and just drop it in that box if you witness bullying or if you are a victim of bullying and then the counsel gets them and follows up on the situations,” Brancato said.

He and others said social media appears to fuel the bullying in schools across the country.

“All of the social media is a disaster. You see bullying more through social media than you would face to face,” Brancato said.

A study posted by Teen Safe in 2016 says that 87 percent of today’s youth have witnessed cyberbullying and 34 percent of students have acknowledged that they have experienced cyberbullying.

If students are caught bullying, they could face criminal charges.

“I’ve done this in the past if it gets to my level,” Brancato said. “I’ve warned a kid and basically told them that they have to stop. If they don’t then I end up charging them. We put it under a stalking or disorderly charge.”

Brancato said he believes some cases of bullying is not reported in high school.

“Some of it is never reported in high school because some kids that are victims feel that it is going to make it worse if they report it,” Brancato said.

Brancato said seminars at school would help prevent this.

“I can see maybe holding some seminars on bullying and stuff like that to try and teach because victims are scared of the retaliation,” Brancato said.

Brancato said it is important to spread more awareness of the issue.

According to the study posted by Teen Safe, more than seven out of 10 children feel that bullying negatively impacted their social lives. 83 percent of victims reported that bullying effected their self-esteem.

“30 percent of victims have turned to self-harming behaviors, which has increased by 6 percent from 2013,” according to the study posted by Teen Safe in 2016. 

The study reports that 30 percent of children who have been bullied have suicidal thoughts, a 5 percent rise from 2013 statistics.

Morgan Rizzo, a student a Westerly High School, witnessed bullying and cyberbullying.

“Finsta is a big thing,” Morgan Rizzo said.

“Finstas” are Instagram accounts where people rant about different issues or people negatively.

“I don’t really see cyberbullying in high school besides that,” Rizzo said.

Rizzo said she does not think Westerly High School does a good enough job of preventing bullying throughout the school.

“I feel intimidated to step in when someone is being bullied because of retaliation from others,” Rizzo said.

Her sister, Emma Rizzo, goes to Westerly Middle School.

“I don’t see a lot of bullying but there is definitely some,” Emma Rizzo said. “But you can’t tell if it’s joking or serious.”

She said she sometimes sees bullying on social media.

“I don’t feel comfortable using the anonymous boxes to report bullying,” Rizzo said. “Some people use it as a joke in middle school.”

Morgan Rizzo and Emma Rizzo said in the high school and middle school everyone jokes about the “stop box” and don’t take it seriously.

Jessica Savastano, a recent high school graduate, said she doesn’t think Westerly High School does enough to prevent bullying.

“I don’t think they do much to actively prevent it,” Savastano said.

“I’m very happy to be done with high school because of the atmosphere and I know many people also feel that way,” Savastano said.

Lisa Price, a mother of a student attending Westerly Middle School, said bullying is more prominent today because of social media.

“Students today don’t just experience bullying in their school day,” Price said. “It follows them home through social media.”

Bullying is a more common issue in today’s society because teenagers are able to hide behind phone screens and harass other teenagers versus saying it to their faces, several said.

Price said her daughter will tell her she sees and experiences bullying in school, but she tells her mom, “don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

Price said teenagers are always on their phones and social media.
“A lot goes on on the phone. It’s insane,” Price said. “It’s almost as if you’re not on social media nowadays then you aren’t in the ‘group’. It’s how teenagers communicate.”