Using role-playing and other techniques, Churchill County School District Superintendent Carolyn Ross hopes to educate students and staff about bullying and its consequences.

She recently attended a workshop on the subject. Ross said she learned three components are needed for bullying to take place - there must be an imbalance of power, the action is repeated often and one person is being humiliated.

"It's not the severity but the certainty" that the behavior will continue, said Ross.

"We can train on that real easily. We'll make principals aware and we're setting up some scenarios where the kids can role-play," she said. "Let's get the kids to understand what bullying is and give them the opportunity to be bullied in role-playing."

One of the surprising things Ross learned during the conference, she said, is that one-third of bullying occurring in schools is committed by a staff member.

She said some training in the school district has already begun with bus drivers getting information about the topic. She wants all students, staff and counselors to be aware of the issue and learn ways to identify bullying and stop it.

Many of the recent school shootings or other violent crimes were committed by students who felt picked on, said Ross, making bullying a school safety issue.

According to a statistics compiled by the National Association of School Psychologists, bullying is the most common form of violence on school grounds. Bullying consists of physical violence, teasing, threatening behavior or harassment that is repeated over time.

In a U.S. Bureau of Justice study conducted in 2001, 77 percent of students surveyed said they had been a victim of a bully, with 14 percent saying they suffered severe reactions to the abuse. One in every five students reported they had engaged in bullying behavior.

Bullying starts in elementary school, peaks during the middle school years and starts to decline in high school, the study found.

The issue was brought to the attention of school officials last year when the mother of a junior high school student formed a group of parents concerned about bullying in the schools.

One student said he thought about physically harming other students because of relentless teasing, physical attacks and bullies taking his belongings.

Ross said a danger exists even for the children who bully others.

"That bully eventually wants to retaliate against society," she said.

Marlene Garcia can be contacted at mgarcia@lahontanvalleynews.com