Survey shows Maricopa High more violent than national average

A new survey released by Maricopa High School shows incidents of bullying and fighting are higher at the school than the national average.

The survey, which was taken by 976 of the school’s 1,400 students, found that 38 percent of students were bullied on campus, 33 percent were involved in a fight or hurt someone on campus and 37 percent were victims of cyber bullying.

The national averages for those areas, respectively, are 32 percent, 11 percent and 4 percent, according to data obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics.

“I think some of the kids didn’t take the survey seriously and that created responses that made the school look like we have much more of a problem,” said MHS freshman counselor Tara Roy. “We have to take these responses seriously though, even if the data is a bit flawed.”

In addition to the elevated violence presented in the study, the survey also showed that 8.3 percent of youth in the school have contemplated suicide because of harassment, 52 percent didn’t do anything to help a peer who was being harassed and 32 percent of school staff didn’t protect students from harassment.

“This survey has allowed us to see the issues students are facing, and we are now formalizing a plan to proactively deal with these issues,” said MHS Site Council president Jim Irving.

The plan to tackle the problems presented in the survey includes a day of training for high school staff in how to identify and deal with bullying, a voluntary suicide assessment for students, and safety zones in every building on the high school campus.

A safety zone, according to Roy, would consist of having a minimum of one teacher per school building designated to deal with safety issues students may be facing.

To identify those teachers, his or her classroom would be marked with a poster designating it as a safety zone.

“We want our students to be able to quickly find a teacher who can help them,” Roy said.

By having more interactions and building stronger relationships between school staff and students, Irving said he believes bullying will be reduced, self-esteem will improve and kids will feel safer in school.

“We want kids to feel comfortable in school and be able to talk about their problems,” he said. “In the long term reducing bullying is going to lead to improved attendance and grades.”

The plan will be implemented during the next few months and be in full operation by the beginning of next school year.

The site council will review the impact of the changes and continue to implement others to improve safety, Irving said.

“We hope by taking these measures we can stay ahead of the game.”