Pacific Grove workshop urges parents to spot and prevent bias-based bullying

Pacific Grove Middle School hosted a parent workshop featuring presenters from Harmony at Home, Rainbow Connections and Monterey County Behavioral Health who defined bias-based bullying, described how it affects students and urged parents to take specific actions to prevent and respond to incidents.

At the session, school Principal Sean Roche introduced the program and said Pacific Grove Middle School is partnering with outside agencies to expand anti-bullying work on campus. Julie Mendaro of Harmony at Home and Denise Adeza of Rainbow Connections led the presentation, and Casey Rodenbush of Monterey County Behavioral Health participated remotely.

Organizers said bias-based bullying targets individuals or groups because of characteristics such as race, gender, disability, religion, socioeconomic status, language or appearance. “Bias based bullying … targets an individual or a group … because of their gender, or their race,” Denise Adeza said, adding it differs from one-off mean moments or ordinary conflict because it targets a characteristic and often involves an imbalance of power.

The presenters stressed potential harms for…