Volcano school solves bullying issues with student led court

VOLCANO — It was all a misunderstanding.

At least that’s how an 11-year-old accused bully characterizes the Sept. 13 incident that landed him under fire.

The student, a Volcano School of Arts &Sciences sixth-grader, said he was leaving class for lunch recess when he swung his book bag over his shoulder and accidentally struck another student behind him.

“My bag is heavy,” the accused bully told the Tribune-Herald. “When I went to go swing it on my shoulder, (the alleged victim) was behind me and it hit him. He was like ‘You hit me’ and he started yelling at me. I was like ‘I didn’t hit you.’ And we just went back and forth.’”

The alleged victim remembers things differently.

He said the backpack whack was one of many incidents through the years by the bully, targeting him “on a daily basis.”

In the past, staff at the Volcano-based public charter school might have handled the matter using a standard behavior disciplinary process. These days, however, things are done a bit differently — both students appeared in “court” Wednesday, recounting events from that Sept. 13 afternoon to their peers.

It’s a student-operated, peer court system called “Student Court” that the Volcano school kicked off last school year. Under the system, students write each other “tickets” for disciplinary infractions — ranging from bullying to vandalism to school rule violations — which are then vetted each week in a trial by student jury.

The court — comprised of a judge, defense team, prosecuting team, witnesses and a jury — determines the outcome of each infraction and, if necessary, recommends “sentencing” to administrators, which have ranged from in-house suspension to a simple handshake.

The concept — originally the brainchild of several eighth-grade students — has since taken off. Kalima Cayir, school education director, said the number of bullying incidents handled by the school’s administrators has declined since the peer court got started. Last spring, the school presented the idea at the state Charter School Commission’s education summit.

This year, the court — piloted initially for just eighth-graders — was expanded to include all middle school grades.

“It definitely did make a difference,” Cayir said. “One of the problems, I think, is that students, especially at the middle school level, don’t want to tell on each other. There’s that whole dynamic of being a snitch. So, this is giving them a way to solve their own problems.”

Data shows bullying is common. More than one-fourth of students in grades 6-12, have experienced bullying, according to stats from the U.S. Department of Health &Human Services, and more than 70 percent of students have seen it happen in their schools.

That’s why “prosecuting attorney” Kyla Fabiani, 13, wanted to get involved. Kyla said she has shy friends and understands that reserved students might be hesitant to report bullying to school administrators.

“I feel like it’s just sad when people get bullied and they don’t want to talk about it,” Kyla said. “Kids don’t really like to talk to teachers about their problems because they think it will make things worse and they’re afraid of being laughed at. So, I think it’s good for the kids who don’t want to talk — it helps the people who are afraid of being more bullied.”

The Sept. 13 backpack incident was continued — the court will continue to discuss it this week, Cayir said.

Cayir said she would recommend the peer court model to other schools — or whichever means of conflict resolution work best for their students.

“The most important thing is that students decide what model is going to work for them,” she said. “It’s less about the fact that it’s a court and more about the fact that it’s student-initiated and student-led and they have complete ownership of how it’s structured and what happens.

“When they’re having ownership of their culture and climate, it’s a whole different situation.”

Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.