SALT LAKE CITY — An anti-bullying program at one Jordan School District school has been so successful, it's expanding to sixth graders around the district this fall, a school counselor familiar with the situation said Thursday.

Sunset Ridge Middle School counselor Julie Scherzinger said officials applied for a grant and secured funding to go around to schools in the district with Sunset Ridge's "student ambassadors" to spread their anti-bullying message and strategies.

"We are seeing (bullying) younger and younger and that's why the elementaries have asked us to come in and share our message and empower other students so that they know that they can stop it," Scherzinger said.

Scherzinger said the program - which features merit-worthy "ambassadors" and focuses on students taking ownership in their school -- had been successful at reducing bullying cases at Sunset Ridge, as evidenced by fewer referrals to the principal's office. The school, she said, was now trying to track whether there is a correlation between attendance and grades and whether students feel welcome.

"We are talking with the students at their level the way they communicate - with social media - so they're willing to talk," Scherzinger said.

Regardless of school programs, bullying continues to be a concern everywhere. Families are talking about it as children return to class in the fall.

Amie Larsen's oldest daughter will be entering a junior high on Salt Lake's east side for the first time later this month. The girl was bullied two years ago, and what happened remains fresh on Larsen's mind.

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Students taking ownership of anti-bullying program

Educators say they're seeing some promising results from an anti-bullying program at Sunset Ridge Middle School. They say the students have more ownership of it than the faculty does.

"(The bully) would say things to other kids and talk about her behind her back," Larsen said. "She never did not want to go to school, but I think it did cause some problems."

Larsen said parents should remind their kids if they encounter trouble, there are multiple outlets to report problems - teachers, principals, counselors, playground monitors, parents, friends' parents.

"Just so they have somebody they can talk to who can help them," Larsen said.

If children have lingering concerns heading into the school year - or if problems develop in the fall -- The Children's Center executive director Doug Goldsmith said parents can make it easier for their children to communicate with them by focusing on what makes the students excited about school, and then follow that up by delving into some of their concerns.

"Having the child just explore that with a parent is really critical in terms of what you think you can do," Goldsmith said.

In dealing directly with a bully, Goldsmith said it's effective to tell the bully "let's go talk to the teacher because I think she'd really like to hear what you just told me."

In short, Goldsmith said it's important to have children communicate what they're experiencing, then give the children some strategies to deal with the bullies in the short term while adults work to solve the problems.

Scherzinger added parents should emphasize it's "OK" to report bullying, and it's essentially a way for the students to take ownership of their schools.

"I'm a parent, and the tendency is … ‘not my kid,'" said Sunset Ridge theatre teacher Lanny Sorenson, suggesting sometimes parents and children do not realize when their behavior comes across to other kids as intimidating or harassing. "Kids can do things inadvertently that they don't see as bullying, so we need to educate them."

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