RUMFORD — Bullying in schools is a problem school administrators and teachers are trying to tackle daily.

Statistics show in the United States 160,000 students miss school daily for fear of being bullied and one out of every 10 students drops out or changes schools because of repeated bullying.

At Dirigo High School in Dixfield bullying is an issue that has taken its toll on some students.

Jason Haynes, a senior at Dirigo, and Justin Chartier, a junior at Dirigo, said they had not been directly affected by bullying but knew of others who had.

“I definitely think it’s a problem when I know of at least two students who have had to leave the school this year because they were bullied,” Haynes said.

School administrative staff at both the high school and middle school say that bullying is a problem at any school and is something they are trying to stop.

“Students need to know we are here to listen and do something about it,” said Tom Ward, superintendent of Regional School Unit 10.

Ward said the district has received 1.2 million in grants to participate in the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support program.

According to the PBIS website, the program is a decision-making framework that guides selection, integration, and implementation of the best evidence-based academic and behavioral practices for improving academic and behavioral outcomes for all children.

Ward said in the first year the program was introduced to the elementary schools, in the second year to the middle schools, and this year it is being brought into the high schools.

“It’s about being consistent all the way from kindergarten to 12th grade,” he said.

Ward said the program helped outline clear expectations of the students in all areas of the school, not just in the classroom.

“I definitely think what we are doing is making a difference,” Celena Ranger, principal at T.W. Kelly Dirigo Middle School, said.

Two sophomore students from Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Morgan O’Neil-Gordon and Brittany Wakefield, said they felt comfortable approaching teachers and reporting bullying.

“I think we have a solid group of teachers that students can trust and go to,” O’Neil said.

Haynes agreed and said he felt that if a teacher caught wind of bullying, they would approach a student about it.

They also agreed that the issue was more of a problem in middle school than in high school.

Principal of Mountain Valley Middle School, Ryan Casey, and Assistant Principal Al Cayer said four years ago a survey in their school showed a high percentage of kids felt unsafe in the school.

“Two years ago we completed another survey and 92 percent of students said they felt safe,” Casey said.

Casey and Cayer attributed that success to the PBIS system as well as other factors. Both said this year they are trying to also increase parent involvement.

Social media has created an easier and faceless way for students to carry out the act of bullying.

“Technology has taken it to a whole new level,” Michael Poulin, principal at Dirigo High School, said. “I don’t think kids have changed, just society and the way we communicate.”

Wakefield said that normally incidents would start on Facebook or Twitter and then would escalate at school.

Staff at all the schools said pulling kids into the office and having a meeting face-to-face about cyber bullying normally helps put an end to the abuse.

Moreau also added that technology has made students more tolerant of differences through education and being exposed to the world.

“Their world is a lot bigger today than just the towns they live in,” he said.

[email protected]