PEABODY – Peabody community members were invited to a community discussion last Wednesday evening at Higgins Middle School to discuss the impacts of bullying and how mental health is affecting Peabody’s youth.
This conversation has been ongoing in Peabody since May, when Higgins Middle School eighth grader Jason Bernard died by suicide due to bullying.
The evening began with Mayor Ted Bettencourt asking everyone to rise for a moment of silence in Jason’s memory.
“Jason’s passing had a deep impact on all of us, and it was really a jolt to our system in so many different ways,” Bettencourt said. “I think at moments like that are where we really need to do a self-analysis of what we do here in this city and really look what we have as the programs (and) services in a very critical manner to make sure that we’re doing the right thing and taking care of all our students and families the very best we can.”
He continued, “There’s a lot more that we need to do. … There’s improvements we can make, and to honor Jason’s memory, we need to do that.”
Bettencourt then addressed the “fair criticism” that this meeting had not happened sooner.
He said it was of the utmost importance for him to take time to learn and “understand what we’re taking on here.” He also wanted to ensure that when the community did first meet about this, there would be quality action steps that can be immediately taken following the meeting.
He added that he wasn’t sure waiting was the right decision, “but I felt this was the right time to have the community meeting.
“This is the kickoff to something meaningful that we can do as a community, again, to honor Jason’s memory and really make things better for our loved ones in our city,” Bettencourt said. “We leave our kids in our school system because we want the very best for them, and we expect the very best and hope for the very best.
“It’s not easy, and thankfully we have a lot of caring teachers and administrators and people in the city who really want to make things a little bit better. That’s why we’re here today: to take on those challenges.”
Bettencourt mentioned four ways he has recently been working on this issue.
For starters, Higgins Middle School will have two full-time clinicians starting in the fall of this school year, who will be available Monday through Friday. The City of Peabody’s Task Force has been created, and last Wednesday evening’s community forum marked its first meeting.
Bettencourt also mentioned there will be a Bullying Assessment Team of two teachers, two administrators, a police officer and a nurse, supported by the City’s social services, which will be meeting weekly to report bullying and provide bullying resources.
Lastly, Bettencourt discussed advocacy.
“This is a tricky one in terms of the right way to approach this,” he said.
This advocacy will likely assist in creating harsher consequences for bullying through disciplinary procedures and policies.
Bettencourt explained that the City has signed a contract with bloom, “a company that provides a phone app for 24/7 crisis management.
“It’s a free app that we hope people will sign up for,” Bettencourt said. The app launched Aug. 1.
The over 100 attendees then had the opportunity to spend 35 minutes in any of the five classrooms ready to discuss one of the following topics: community partnerships and resources; parent support and resources; youth in 2025; school-based offerings; and story sharing. While some attendees stayed in their desired topic’s room the entire time, nobody was tied to that sole topic, and everyone was able to move freely between classrooms.
Note cards were available in each of the classrooms for people to write down questions, thoughts or concerns. Those note cards were then turned in and will be compiled and shared with the Action Team to inform future projects.
According to the City, “An Action Team is a collaborative group of individuals who are interested in helping with a particular project on a short-term basis. The group will work together to achieve a common goal: to plan and conduct projects pertaining to bullying, mental health, positive youth development and more.”
For questions about the Action Team, contact Peabody’s Division of Social Services at 978-538-6339 or socialservices@peabodypolice.org.
The discussion ended with public comment, which lasted for over 30 minutes. Bettencourt took notes and eagerly nodded along throughout public comment, which spanned topics from potentially revisiting the City’s websites and how it pushes out information to concerns over the State’s criteria to allow for expulsion.
The second speaker explained that “there needs to be clear, anti-bulling policies displayed in kid-friendly languages from elementary to high school.” She added more suggestions for the Action Team to take into consideration, such as an anonymous QR code to submit bullying complaints.
Before adjourning, Bettencourt reminded everyone in attendance to take a fact sheet about the Action Team and consider downloading the bloom app.
