BUFFALO, N.Y. — Bullying is seen as an underlying factor for many court cases involving young people in Western New York. School officials admit bullying is interfering with student learning.
A few members of the task force gathered Tuesday afternoon inside the Buffalo Museum of Science. They heard from sub-committees and experts. The panel is a partnership between Buffalo Schools and the court system.
Family Court Judge Brenda Freedman says bullying on social media is a major problem because young people are doing things to taunt others behind a screen.
"Instead of seeing the bully approaching some youngster on the playground where you could go over and intervene, now all of this is built up over time on-line and the next thing you know there is a huge assault or suicide, God forbid, just huge repercussions and we didn't see the warning signs," Judge Freedman said.
The panel hopes to have concrete recommendations by August to present to the community and the Buffalo Board of Education.
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