ROANOKE, Va. – As students return to the classroom and families get back to routine, the issue of bullying is once again taking center stage in Virginia.
Parents, educators, doctors, and activists are raising alarms about the growing impact bullying is having on children, not only in the classroom, but far beyond.
Nearly five months after 10-year-old Autumn Bushman died by suicide, her mother, Summer, is continuing her fight to make sure no other family has to experience that kind of loss.
She says this year, there was a new option for when she registered her two other children for Roanoke County Public Schools: to sign them up for a suicide prevention class.
“Unfortunately, it’s not mandatory,” Bushman said. “You can opt your child in or opt your child out.”
Bushman believes schools need to do more. “I definitely think there should be more training with the school counselors,” she said.
Dr. Robert Trestman, chair of psychiatry at Carilion Clinic, said youth mental health cases are rising rapidly.
“Kids in middle school are presenting to our emergency rooms with suicidal thoughts and threats and behaviors in numbers that simply never happened before,” Trestman said.
While bullying now includes cyber harassment and social media attacks, he said the basic response should stay the same.
“It’s important for parents and teachers to tell their children: what is bullying?” he said. “If you are feeling bullied, here is where you can go, this is what you can do, this is how you can respond. And actually working to practice it, ideally, because role-playing in advance empowers people at any age."
The Virginia Department of Education issues guidance on student conduct and bullying, but enforcement and policy specifics can vary widely from district to district.
Pulaski County Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Graham said his district saw its share of threats last school year.
“I do consider that a form of bullying,” said Graham.
“We don’t want our students or staff members coming to school not feeling safe, not feeling welcome,” he added.
Anti-bullying advocates are also taking the issue to the state level. Over the weekend, Empty Tomb Motorcycle Ministry and Pastor Tom McCracken of Community Church in Salem attended an anti-bullying rally, urging lawmakers in Richmond to pass consistent statewide policies.
“School systems sort of have their hands tied,” McCracken said. “And there’s not a lot of consistency when it comes to anti-bullying efforts.”
He’s encouraging Virginians to sign an online petition calling on lawmakers to pass comprehensive legislation.
“That legislation will give teeth and accountability where there is none right now,” he said.
For now, families like the Bushmans are pushing forward—hoping their tragedy will lead to long-overdue change.