Yesterday (March 1, 2011) I had the opportunity to attend a hearing on bullying sponsored by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The public was invited to share testimony about their experiences with bullying as the MCRC deliberates how they should respond to bullying in our community throughout Michigan.

For the record, the public hearing portion of the session did not paint school counselors in a very positive light as my testimony below reveals.  Consequently, I thought it would be important to post the written testimony that I submitted to help inform your thinking about the role of professional school counselors as it relates to bullying in our schools and communities.

Commissioner Bertram Marks:

I am a school counselor educator at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids as well as the Co-President of the Michigan School Counselor Association (MSCA) which represents roughly 600 professional school counselors across the state of Michigan.

Last evening I attended the Bullying Forum in Grand Rapids. I was impressed with the courage of those whose testimony included firsthand accounts of bullying. As a school counselor educator and former school counselor, I was particularly struck by those stories which implicated that school counselors appeared to be taking no action in advocating for students who were being bullied. In fact, it seemed as if these professionals were minimizing the concerns brought to their attention.

I would like to assure the Department of Civil Rights that school counselors are trained to provide pro-active programming to prevent bullying in schools as well as intervention skills to advocate for the bullied, the bully, and the bystanders to address this oppressive behavior when it occurs. In fact, Mr. Larry Johnson of Grand Rapids Public Schools discussed the need to provide resources in schools to address the problem. I would argue that the training of professional school counselors positions these professionals to lead the charge against bullying behavior in schools.

Unfortunately, in this time of budget constraints, many school counseling positions have been cut, particularly at the elementary levels. In addition, many counselors are given administrative tasks like coordinating testing or student scheduling which take away from implementing pro-active programming or intervening with victims, bullies, and bystanders. Finally, the high ratio of students to school counselors is well document in Michigan. With an average of 638 students to each school counselor, Michigan ranks as the sixth highest student to school counselor ratio.

In spite of these realities, be assured that as a professional association MSCA is committed to partnering with any and all to reduce and eradicate instances of bullying in schools. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) has written several position statements to inform the work of professional school counselors. I am attaching three position statements that describe the role of professional school counselors as they relate to bullying in schools as part of my testimony. The first is titled The Professional School Counselor and Bullying, Harassment and Violence-Prevention Programs: Supporting Safe and Respectful Schools and this document highlights the pro-active role played by school counselors. The second document is titled The Professional School Counselor and Student Safety and Technology and emphasizes the important role that school counselors play in minimizing bullying and other risks related to technology. The final document is titled The Professional School Counselor and LGBTQ Youth which recognizes that our LGBTQ youth are most often targets of bullying and as such professional school counselors promote violence-prevention activities to create a safe school environment that is free of fear, bullying and hostility for ALL students.

In addition to endorsing the three position statements that address bullying in schools, it is the position of Michigan school counselors to support bullying legislation that has been introduced in the house and senate in Michigan over the past five years. We encourage the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to advocate for passing the recent legislation introduced by House Rep. Meadows, et al. in hopes that Matt's Safe School Law (named after Matt Epling whose story is told at www.MattEpling.com) will be signed during the 2011 legislative session.

I would like to thank the Michigan Civil Rights Commission for doing this important work. Your time and effort to address this most serious societal ill demonstrates your commitment to the health of Michigan's citizens. Please know that you have the support of Michigan school counselors as we seek to make a difference in the academic, career, and personal/social development of all students we serve. 

 Sincerely,
Shawn Bultsma, PhD
Grand Valley Staten University
Michigan School Counselor Association, Co-President