Bullying & Harassment - Waverly-Shell Rock Community Schools

Bullying & Harassment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4kh4r99ZkI&feature=email

W-SR School Board Policy
Harassment and bullying of students and employees are
against federal, state and local policy, and are not
tolerated by the board. The board is committed to
providing all students with a safe and civil school
environment in which all members of the school
community are treated with dignity and respect. To that
end, the board has in place policies, procedures, and
practices that t are designed d to reduce and eliminate
i bullying and harassment as well as processes and
procedures to deal with incidents of bullying and
harassment. Bullying and harassment of students by
other students, by school employees, and by volunteers
who have direct contact with students will not be
tolerated in the school or school district.

The board prohibits harassment, bullying, hazing, or any
other victimization of students, based on any of the
following actual or perceived traits or characteristics,
including but not limited to, race, color, age (except
students), religion, national origin, creed, sex, marital
status, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic
status, physical attributes, physical or mental ability or
disability in admission i or access to, or treatment t t in, its
programs, policies and activities, ancestry, political party
preference, political belief, or familial status.
Harassment against employees based upon the
employee’s race, color, age (except students), religion,
national origin, creed, sex, marital status, sexual
orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or
disability in admission or access to, or treatment in its
hiring i and employment practices is also prohibited.

DEFINITIONS
a. "Electronic" means any communication involving the transmission of
information by wire, radio, optical cable, electromagnetic, or other similar
means. "Electronic" includes but is not limited to communication via electronic
mail, internet-based communications, pager service, cell phones, and electronic
text messaging.
b. "Harassment" and "bullying" shall be construed to mean any electronic,
written, verbal, or physical act or conduct toward a student which is based on
any actual or perceived trait or characteristic i of the student and which h creates
an objectively hostile school environment that meets one or more of the
following conditions.
(1) Places the student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's s person or
property.
(2) Has a substantially detrimental effect on the student's physical or
mental health.
(3) Has the effect of substantially interfering with a student's academic
performance.
(4) Has the effect of substantially ti interfering i with the student's t' ability to
participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges
provided by a school.

c. "Trait or characteristic of the student" includes but is not limited to age,
color, creed, national origin, race, religion, marital status, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, physical attributes, physical or mental ability
or disability, ancestry, political party preference, political belief,
socioeconomic status, or familial status.
d. "Volunteer" means an individual who has regular, significant contact
with students.
(1) Places the student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's person
or property.
(2) Has a substantially detrimental effect on the student's physical or
mental health.
(3) Has the effect of substantially interfering with a student's academic
performance.
(4) Has the effect of substantially interfering with the student's ability
to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges
provided by a school.
Persistent t & Pervasive
http://www.caabi.org/Anti_Bullying_Law_Iowa.html

Cyber-bullying
bullying
24 / 7 / 365

Cyber-bullying is the intentional infliction of harm by the
use of one or more media of electronic technologies.
Electronic media include computers, Instant Messaging,
social networking Web sites, handheld communication
devised, cell phones, etc.
The “traditional” school bully, as we have learned the hard
way, is an unhappy youth who feels disenfranchised, and
chooses to take drastic, even tragic steps to get attention.
The anonymity of electronic communications has deepened
the pool from which cyber-bullies emerge. The lack of the
face-to-face element emboldens adults and children alike to
communicate in a way in which they would not dream of doing
otherwise.
http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1030&It
emid=1293#LegalRequirementsReports

What do you
suggest we do if
our child is
receiving
inappropriate i emails or text
messages?
To whom can a
child report an incident?
How do we deal with
repercussions
or threats if a report is
made?
Can a student be held
accountable for
comments posted on
social media
sites such as Facebook?
Can a report be made
and yet my child’s, or
my name, remain
anonymous?
What’s the difference between
“teasing” and “harassment”?

W.W.Y.D?
The following slides contain scenarios school officials can
refer to when determining if a reported incident of harassment
must be included in our state report (BEDS). Although used for
state reporting purposes, these situations provide examples of what is or
is not considered harassment.

Situation #1
A group of girls, all whom are on-again, off-again friends, start texting
each other at school. Some of the messages turn nasty; they start calling each other
names. Hurt feelings escalate to a one-time shoving match in the hall between
classes.
Report it in BEDS?
NO. This behavior is more like typical adolescent cruelty that does not
rise to the level of meeting any of the four conditions above in the definition.
Comments
Just because this is not an incident to report under the new law, does
not mean that the school does nothing. It is always appropriate for the school
to look into the matter and talk to the students involved, call the parents,
involve school guidance counselors etc. This is not reportable on our BEDS
report but because it is happening in school, it is punishable under our
school’s student conduct policies.

Situation #1a
Same as the previous incident but now the girls have divided
themselves into two groups and there are frequent physical incidents
between them.
Report it in BEDS?
YES. This behavior has moved beyond adolescent cruelty to the
point where a student has objective reason to be in reasonable fear of
harm to her person.
Comments
The motivation would be reported as based on sex, given that the
name-calling that t started t all this was limited it to derogatory female
terms.

Situation #2
Two male elementary students, one Hispanic and one white, standing in the
lunch line get into an argument about who was first in line. They start shoving
each other. The white student calls the Hispanic student a “wetback” and gets
in the last shove. There is no prior history of issues between these two boys.
Report it in BEDS?
NO. While the derogatory name implicates a protected characteristic
(national origin), this is the type of misbehavior that can be resolved quickly by
having a teacher or other school adult immediately separate the boys, make
them apologize, issue a quick consequences and school life goes.
Comments
The classroom teacher is notified of the argument and asks the teacher to keep
an eye on the students to make sure this is a one time event. It if continues and
is based on national origin a report may need to be made in the future.

Situation #3
An elementary student frequently makes rhetorical comments
to no one in particular about how she is going to kill one or another
fellow student. No specifics are mentioned and there is no genuine
expression of intent to harm. The student has older siblings and often
talk tough as a means of posturing.
Report it in BEDS?
NO. But, this answer changes as soon as the student starts
becoming specific and seems to be targeting a specific classmate.
Comments
Generally speaking, the older the student, the less a school may
assume that the student has no means by which to carry out threats.