Peabody Youth Bullying Community Discussion Set For Next Week

PEABODY, MA — A community discussion on youth bullying in Peabody — which Mayor Ted Bettencourt called for following the death of an eighth-grade student amid bullying accusations this spring — is set for Higgins Middle School next week.

The Community Discussion on Youth Bullying and Mental Health will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. with those attending encouraged to RSVP here.

Dozens of Peabody parents — including friends and family members of Higgins Middle School eighth-grader Jason Bernard, whose family said he committed suicide in May after suffering ongoing bullying — made emotional pleas for urgent change during a School Committee discussion on bullying policy and procedures last month.

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Superintendent Josh Vadala presented several professional development, incident reporting and intervention protocols when it comes to bullying at the meeting.

But many of those who spoke charged the district with being too reactive to a crisis that has been a painful reality for many students in Peabody for a very long time.

"I can't talk about this without acknowledging the tragic loss of Jason Bernard and what his family is going through," Vadala said that night. "Understanding that there is much work to be done to heal as a community. And the need to really come together as a community and really make some relevant change.

"I would encourage everybody to be part of that positive change that we need."

Vadala said a community forum on bullying was still in the planning stages that night and that a task force against bullying is being formed. The Peabody Health Department also launched a student Mental Health Center basedout of Higgins Middle School.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)