Parents, school faculty and administrators from all three school systems and citizens of Calloway County met Monday to discuss how to combat bullying in the area.

Allan Beane, founder of Bully Free, opened the meeting with a presentation on bullying and its effects on children who become victims. Beane defined bullying as a form of aggressive and harmful behavior that is intentional, hurtful and persistent.

Beane’s son, Curtis Beane, died at age 23 of complications from taking methamphetamines. Beane said the situation never would have arisen had it not been for the bullying that took place through his son’s middle and high school years. After his son’s death, Beane gave up his job as a professor in order to start Bully Free.

“My wife and I quit our jobs and stepped out on faith,” Beane said.

Beane stressed the importance of a response plan for when bullying has been discovered. He has created an eight-step process for dealing with bullies. The first step is titled ‘Dealing with the First Rumor and Unverified Report.’

Rumors of bullying can have serious implications, and can sometimes lead to a lawsuit if not dealt with properly.

Beane, who also has served as an expert and a consultant in criminal cases dealing with bullying, has been involved in six lawsuits where the school administration did not respond appropriately, in a timely manner or did not respond at all to rumors that proved to be facts.

In a survey Beane did of middle school students, 80 percent of 558 students said they had been involved in bullying.

In the technology-driven society of today, cyber-bullying is popular among children and teens that have grown up knowing the ins and outs of the internet.

“Kids are getting creative,” Beane said. “They’re using the technology to hurt each other.”

Beane hopes that, one day, the city of Murray will put ordinances against bullying in place.

Although currently there are no ordinances against bullying in Murray, the Calloway County Sheriff’s Department has allocated two resource deputies to patrolling the middle and high schools. Another deputy has recently started patrolling at the three elementary schools in the county. Sheriff Bill Marcum said the officers are there as a source of protection and safety for the students of Calloway County.

Amy Turner, principal at Calloway Middle School, said bullying can be found in all schools, even CMS.

“To deny that it exists anywhere is to deny it exists in general,” She said.

Turner said she thought the focus on the differences between what people define as conflict and what people define as bullying was very important.

Michael Penner, president of Murray State’s Alliance, presented the main points of his discussion group to the rest of the attendees. Penner was bullied throughout high school for his sexual orientation and for being a member of his school’s band. He said he did a lot of the talking in his group, explaining to the older generation how bullying has evolved.

Penner said the program Be The Change, which came to his high school several times, left a lasting impression on him.

“People were crying, they were so moved by that activity.” Penner said, “They saw all of those other people that had dealt with the same things they had.”

Said Beane: “Our society acts like its okay to mistreat these people. How can that be? How can that be?”

Story by Amanda Grau, Contributing writer.