COAL GROVE — Bullying affects half of all high school students, according to a survey by the Josephson Institute on Ethics that came out earlier this week. The Dawson-Bryant School District is aware of this problem and is trying to solve it.

“Bullying: How to deal with this growing problem in our schools,” is a meeting hosted by the district and will begin at 6 p.m. Monday at the Dawson-Bryant High School cafetorium. The meeting is expected to last until 8 p.m. Dr. Dennis Lewis from EduSafe will speak. Everyone is welcome, and there is no cost.

“What we’re doing is trying to come up with a ‘how-to,’ a safety plan, for our students when it comes to bullying,” said Tomi Blankenship, director of student services for middle school and high school at Dawson-Bryant.

“We want involvement, not just our parents, grandparents or guardians in the Dawson-Bryant area, but we want it seen as something the whole community can be invited to and participate in,” she said. “He is going to help us develop a specific plan. Not just ‘zero-tolerance’ to bullying, but a punishment to certain infractions directed toward people who bully.”

Blankenship said it has been a district effort, recognizing the problem and the need for a solution.

“We recently had a parent survey, at the end of the 2009-2010 school year, and parents listed bullying as the number one issue facing their children,” she said. She said they got in touch with Lewis over the summer and scheduled him to come as quickly as possible.

“We don’t want to wait until it happens to more,” she said.

“I think this is a timely issue we need to be addressing,” said Dennis Decamp, Dawson-Bryant superintendent.

“With the Internet and all, it’s gotten worse,” Blankenship said. “You don’t have to be a bully face-to-face.

“Right now we are hearing a lot about the problem, but what were wanting is a solution,” she said. “What we tell the students is, ‘Do your best to ignore the bully, but not the problem. Go to a trusted adult.’ But we want to look beyond that, to what we can do as a community.”

Lewis has more than 30 years of experience in helping schools and communities become safer. He has served 17 years as the director of school public safety for a large school district. He co-authors “Safety Tips for Principals,” which is published monthly in NASSP’s Principal Leadership. He has also served as the President of the National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers.