County Council Passes Resolution, Declares Bullying Public Nuisance

At the May 7 county council meeting, the council passed a resolution that declares bullying a public nuisance.
 

Councilmember Peter Smith introduced the resolution at the April 16 meeting. By declaring bullying a public nuisance, the council has the authority to establish regulations to combat the problem.
 

Health Officer Frances B. Phillips had one month to research and prepare an outline of how to implement a bullying prevention plan. She presented the outline on May 9 when the council sat as the Board of Health.
 

“The issue of bullying is one that the council had previously considered and the Department of Health has been working on in terms of responding to the first resolution,” Smith said.
 

The first resolution called on three entities to report back to the council, Smith said. The entities are the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system, the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the Anne Arundel County Department of Health.
 

Phillips is working with representatives from all three entities to understand their respective roles. The police department will handle any cases of criminal bullying, the schools will handle anything that takes place on school grounds or school buses, and the Department of Health will handle all other cases.
 

Cyber bullying falls under the school system’s contributions to the prevention plan.
 

“It is a behavior of public health interest not just for children but also with regard to adults,” Phillips said. “When adults engage in bullying or are victims of bullying, it’s also termed harassment or intimidation, and that, too, is a concern in the county and a concern to the health department.”
 

Both Phillips and Smith agreed that bullying might have lifelong health consequences.
 

“There’s another context to bullying in that it represents a failure in our larger society to treat each other with respect and with civility,” Phillips said. “That failure is a concern because it reflects the possibility of intolerance for people who may have disabilities or may have some sort of distinguishing condition, so it becomes a public health concern for that reason.”
 

There isn’t a set timeline for the prevention plan to roll out.
 

“The outline is very comprehensive, so this is not a brief, weeklong endeavor,” Smith said. “This will be a serious project that will involve lots of other agencies and community leaders, so we’ll be working on this for some time.”
 

Phillips has already begun working with the other agencies to go over published research that provides evidence of the long-term effects of bullying.
 

“We hope to be able to provide, if not solutions or answers, at least some direction,” Phillips said. “This is a county-wide concern, and the council reflects that concern.”