KENMORE-TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — New York State has been tracking different forms of bullying in schools for the past decade through what is called the "School Safety and the Educational Climate", or SSEC. It requires that every school within the state report any incident of bullying, to understand the trends that are occurring.
In Western New York, the top five schools for bullying labeled "Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying: All Excluding Cyber-bullying" were:
1. Herbert Hoover Middle School
2. Cleveland Hill Middle School
3. Windemere Elementary School
4. Depew Middle School
5. Charter School for Applied Technology
Find all of the information collected from the most recent SSEC, here. The list is ranked highest to lowest on incidents marked "Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying: All Excluding Cyberbullying". For Erie County schools, scroll to page 15. To search a school, if on a computer, hold COMMAND F and then type in the name. For a smartphone, click "find on page" and search by name.
Herbert Hoover Middle was listed as #1 in Western New York and #4 state-wide for bullying in the "Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying: All Excluding Cyber-bullying" category. It's something the school said is concerning, yet encouraging as it shows there are students reporting bullying.
"You could interpret that as students are in an environment that they feel comfortable reporting those kinds of incidents" Director of Student Services for the KenTon School District Michael F. Lewis, PhD said.
Bullying is a fluid situation with the increased presence of social media, so KenTon says they are taking a holistic approach to solving it.
