October is National Bully Prevention Month; Bibb County Schools is implementing bullying prevention program

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program focuses on students, parents and bystanders to help address bullying from pre-K through 12th grade.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – October is Bullying Prevention Month, and the Bibb County School District has been implementing a program aimed at preventing bullying and creating safer school environments since earlier this year.

Curlandra L. Smith, the district’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) coordinator, says the district is implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program for students from pre-K through 12th grade.

“In Bibb County School District, we are so excited to be implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, and that is an evidence-based program that focuses on bullying prevention in pre-K all the way through 12th grade,” Smith said.

She says the program establishes a common understanding of what bullying is and what it is not. It also provides students and parents with a way to report bullying incidents.

Smith says the program addresses not only students engaging in harmful behavior, but also those experiencing it, their parents and bystanders who witness it.

“It also focuses on the parents, but also the people who are surrounding, who are watching this happen, the bystanders,” Smith said.

The district’s approach emphasizes that bullying prevention is a shared responsibility involving students, families and the broader school community.