rianna Baird and Lonaeja Stein remember junior high vividly. How they fought to fit in.

The two tried to wear the right clothes, listen to the right music and hang out with the right people. They saw how classmates who didn't fit into the cookie-cutter definition of cool were taunted by their peers. It was especially hard for girls, they said.

Baird and Stein became freshmen and moved up to Mandan High School. It was a welcomed change. Upper classmen looked out for them. They befriended the younger students and took them under their wings.

"It was nice to be accepted," Baird said. "In junior high there were so many easy ways to rip on people for who they were."

That's why the current Mandan juniors said they were surprised when school officials started an anti-bullying campaign in January to raise awareness of the problem.

Teachers and administrators at the school put together an hour-long presentation that educated students on what bullying and harassment are. It also equipped them with tools to prevent it from happening. In March, students will take an anti-bullying pledge, sign a banner and get blue ribbons to wear.

"It seemed unnecessary because it's not a problem," Stein said. "We don't witness it."

Despite their skepticism, students admitted the school administrators' intent worked. After the presentation, kids were talking about bullying. At the forefront of their thoughts was an issue some didn't know existed at their school. There was a heightened awareness.

"It's not a perfect plan, but you have to start some place," said Mark Andresen, Mandan High principal. "The more North Dakota's population changes, the more diversity we see in our students."

More area schools are stepping up efforts to combat bullying and harassment in schools, in hopes of creating a safer place for students. The Mandan School District added to its ongoing efforts this year, and made it their main focus. Bismarck schools tightened their harassment policies to crack down on bullying and worked to create a nonhostile environment. Both districts have tried to raise awareness and show students there is zero tolerance.

School officials said bullying is a problem, although numbers aren't skyrocketing. Students report only a handful of cases to them each year, but educators said there are more incidents going on that aren't brought to their attention.

Bullying between students today is subtle, they said. It's verbal, with name-calling, taunting and teasing. There are few physical fights, making it harder to identify when it's happening.

"It's not as easy as if you have two kids punching each other," said John Salwei, Bismarck assistant superintendent. "It's an insidious problem that's hard to correct and has such severe consequences for children and young adults."

Schools have always dealt with harassment and bullying, but six years ago the issue was thrown into the spotlight. School shootings, such as Columbine, the 1999 shooting rampage in Littleton, Colo., showed the effects of bullying. Local districts reacted by tightening policies and reevaluating how they approached the issue. Schools started focusing on prevention efforts and activities that raise awareness among students and staff.

Mandan and Bismarck administrators said school climate is a big issue in preventing bullying. Students are hesitant to report cases because they fear it will deepen the problem.

"The biggest hurdle we have to get over is that willingness for young people to feel comfortable in coming in and telling us about it," said Mike Heilman, Century High School principal. "You have to establish a relationship of trust with the kids."

One way to do that is by showing students cases of bullying are taken seriously, Heilman said. When bullying or harassment is reported, Mandan and Bismarck school administrators bring both parties together to talk about what happened. Counselors are brought in and parents are contacted. That works more than 95 percent of the time, they said. If it continues, students could face detention, suspension or a citation.

When school starts, teachers and administrators go over harassment policies that include bullying. Throughout the year, schools bring in speakers and have activities that create tolerance of diversity and awareness of bullying.

"The time to deal with it is when you are getting good comfort levels, not later on when you've ignored it and have a negative circumstance," said Kent Hjelmstad, Mandan superintendent. "It's the type of problem that can be taken for granted if you aren't consistently facilitating the comfort of students and staff."

Bismarck schools have changed how they deal with bullies, in addition to raising awareness and putting prevention measures in place. Teachers and administrators are trained in restitution, in which students realize and correct their own mistakes.

Brian Beehler, Wachter Middle School assistant principal, said he talks to students who instigate the incidents about the effect their actions have on their peers.

"You deal with the human nature of it instead of just lecturing them about how inappropriate it is," Beehler said. "It needs to be a teachable moment. You try to keep their dignity intact."

Schools are seeing the effects of their efforts. Students have less tolerance for bullying and are more likely to report incidents or stand up to their peers. Parents are more aware of the problem and call administrators to bring cases to their attention.

"There are a lot of things that happen in our hallways as students come and go that are very quietly done that we never hear about until they escalate to a higher level," said Heilman. "Bullying takes a lot of different forms. Some of those are difficult to identify and deal with, but we are more aware and educated about them."

(Reach reporter Sheena Dooley at 250-8225 or sheenadooley@ndonline.com.)