MOSES LAKE - Bullying happens at Knolls Vista Elementary, but Principal Mike Riggs doesn't think it has to.

The school recently provided training for staff and assemblies for students on identifying, and responding to, bullying. Two parent and community training seminars are slated for later in the month.

The staff training and student assemblies both generated a lot of positive action at the school, said Riggs. There have been more student reports of bullying since the training.

"I think that's to be expected since we were telling them that they don't have to put up with that," he said.

One of the first steps taken is peer mediation between the students, said Riggs. It's important to clearly identify whether the behavior does constitute bullying, he added. If it is bullying, sanctions are put into place, such as a loss of a privilege or activity. For example, one fourth grader's consequence was exclusion from a school bicycle ride this week, Riggs said.

Working with parents to provide consequences for their child's misbehavior is also important, he added.

Parent training takes place Thursday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Chief Moses Middle School library and Monday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Knolls Vista Elementary School gym. 

It's open to parents, neighbors and people across the school district who are interested in addressing the problem of bullying. The training will help parents identify and prevent bullying and provide information on bullying and harassment laws and regulations.

"It's been very helpful to our school community to address this problem head-on and make sure we're sensitive to what parents and community members are telling us," Riggs said. 

"We've made a fairly large investment in terms of time and staff training and resources to try to correct what we think is a problem area. This is not the first time over the past 10 or 12 years that we've addressed this and we'll continue working through the end of the year to keep students safe and supported and feel like they're valued here at Knolls Vista," he added.