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Schools should be prepared to assist students that have been victims of bullying (Texas State Texas School Safety Center, 2013). Schools should:

have trained counselors to help victims with emotional wounds

utilize group peer programs to help victims with social needs

provide referrals to outside medical or psychological treatment if school staff cannot meet student needs

ask the victim what can be done to help them feel safe

(Stop Bullying, n.d.)
(Texas State Texas School Safety Center, 2013)

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Anti-Defamation League. (n.d.). No place for hate. https://www.adl.org/who-we-are/our-organization/signature-programs/no-place-for-hate

Blake Jamilia J., Banks Courtney S., Patience Brenda A., & Lund Emily M. (2015). School based mental health professionals’ bullying assessment practices: A call for evidence-based bullying assessment guidelines. Professional School Counseling, 18(1), 136.

Cowan, K. C., Vaillancourt, K., Rossen, E., & Pollitt, K. (2013). A framework for safe and successful schools. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Education World. (2020). Bullying intervention strategies that work.  Retrieved from  https://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues/issues103.shtml.

Gietz, C., Good, K., & McIntosh, C. (2020). Integrating bullying prevention into schoolwide positive behavior support. New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention. https://njbullying.org/documents/BullyingPosBehSupports.pdf

Harvard Law. (2020) Child pornography:  Maryland court of appeals holds minor criminally liable as distributor of child pornography for sexting. — In re: S.K., 215 A.3d 300 (Md. 2019). (2020). Harvard Law Review, 133(7), 2419–2426.

Horner, R., Ross, S., & Stiller, B. (2020). Bullying prevention in positive behavior support. Colorado Department of Education. https://www.cde.state.co.us/mtss/bp-pbs_pbs_middle

O’Connell, M.E., Boat, T., & Warner, K.E. (Eds.). (2009). Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities. Committee on the Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth, and Young Adults: Research Advances and Promising Interventions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK32784/

Ohio PBIS Network. (2020). School-wide universal screening for behavioral and mental health Issues: Implementation guidance. https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Other-Resources/School-Safety/Building-Better-Learning-Environments/PBIS-Resources/Project-AWARE-Ohio/Project-AWARE-Ohio-Statewide-Resources/Screening-Guidance-Document-Final.pdf.aspx

Richards, R. D., & Calvert, C. (2009). When sex and cell phones collide: Inside the prosecution of a teen sexting case. Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal (Comm/Ent), 32(1), 1–40.

Setty, E. (2019). Meanings of bodily and sexual expression in youth sexting culture: Young women’s negotiation of gendered risks and harms. Sex Roles, 80(9/10), 586–606. https://doi-org.easydb.angelo.edu/10.1007/s11199-018-0957-x

Stop Bullying. (n.d.). Support the Kids Involved. https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/support-kids-involved

Tex. Educ. Code § 21.451

Tex. Educ. Code § 37.0832

Tex. Educ. Code § 37.001

Tex. Educ. Code § 37.002

Texas Education Agency. (2020). Coordinated school health - Bullying and cyberbullying. https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/coordinated-school-health/coordinated-school-health-bullying-and-cyberbullying

Texas State Texas School Safety Center. (2013). The Effects of Bullying Among School-Aged Youth. https://txssc.txstate.edu/topics/bullying/articles/effects-of-bullying-among-youth

Texas State Texas School Safety Center. (2020). Texas Bullying Laws. https://txssc.txstate.edu/videos/bullying-and-the-law/

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2009). Social and emotional learning and bully prevention. https://www.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/3_SEL_and_Bullying_Prevention_2009.pdf

Titchen, K. E., Maslyanskaya, S., Silver, E. J., & Coupey, S. M. (2019). Sexting and young adolescents: Associations with sexual abuse and intimate partner violence. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 32(5), 481–486. https://doi-org.easydb.angelo.edu/10.1016/j.jpag.2019.07.004

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2019, December 5). Bullying prevention training center. Stop Bullying. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/training-center

Vannest, K. J. (2012). Implementing interventions and progress monitoring subsequent to universal screening. School Psychology Forum: Research in Practice, 6(4), 119-136.

Yoon, J., & Bauman, S. (2014) Teachers: A critical but overlooked component of bullying prevention and intervention. Theory Into Practice, 53, 308-314. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2014.947226

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This page provide the definitions and laws related to bullying and cyberbullying. There are also links to resources to assist in educating others about bullying and cyberbullying.

Bullying

Texas Education Code (TEC) §37.0832 identifies bullying as a single significant act or a pattern of acts by one or more students directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct and that

has the effect or will have the effect of physically harming a student, damaging a student's property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's person or of damage to the student's property;

is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student;

materially and substantially disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of a classroom or school, or infringes on the rights of the victim at school.

Cyberbullying is bullying that involves the use of any electronic communication device, including through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, an Internet website, or any other Internet-based communication tool.

Texas Laws Related to Bullying and Cyberbullying

Texas Education Code Chapter 37 Section 37.001 Student Code of Conduct

Te xas Education Code Chapter 37, Section 37.0832 (David's Law) Bullying prevention policies and procedures

Texas Education Code Chapter 37, Section 37.217 Community education relating Internet safety

Texas Education Code Chapter 37, Section 37.218 Programs on dangers of students sharing visual material depicting minor engaged in sexual conduct

Texas Education Code Chapter 25, Section 25.0342 Transfer of students who are victims of or have engaged depicting minor engaged in sexual conduct

It is important for each student to report any bullying or threats to the nearest teacher or adult at school as soon as possible so school officials may take appropriate action.

If you have concerns about bullying, meet with the campus principal to express your concerns. If your child is receiving special education services, go to the ARD committee to focus on the problem and arrange a plan to intervene at the campus level. For additional guidance related to addressing your concerns, we encourage you to visit your district office for clarification.

Related Links

The following links provide information about bullying and cyberbullying:

A link to a survey of middle school students' experiences with bullying (outside source)

Connect Safely (outside source)

Cyberbullying Research Center (outside source)

CyberWise (outside source)

National School Climate Center's BullyBust (outside source)

Pacer Center's Kids Against Bullying (outside source)

Pacer Center's Teens Against Bullying (outside source)

The Texas Attorney General's Office (outside source)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration web site (outside source)

Wired Safety (outside source)

Support Organizations and Hotlines

The following links provide support services to students:

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (outside source) (888) 333-2377

Mental Health America (outside source) (800) 969-6642

National Domestic Violence (outside source) Hotline (800) 799-7233, (800) 787-3224 (TTY)

National Runaway Safeline (outside source) (800) 786-2929

National Victim Center (outside source) (202) 467-8700

Trevor Helpline for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth (outside source) (866) 488-7386

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Child Welfare Information Gateway (outside source)

Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division
(512) 463-9581
healthandsafety@tea.texas.gov

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Coordinated School Health - Bullying and Cyberbullying

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This page provide the definitions and laws related to bullying and cyberbullying. There are also links to resources to assist in educating others about bullying and cyberbullying.

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Tex. Educ. Code § 37.001, requires schools to implement a student code of conduct protecting students from bullying.

In addition to including bullying policies and consequences into the student code of conduct, schools can become designated as "No Place for Hate" campuses by completing a needs assessment, creating a No Place for Hate committee, having students sign a pledge, facilitating student anti-bias/bullying prevention training, and creating a few anti-bias/bullying prevention initiatives (Anti-Defamation League, n.d.).

Staff can facilitate this essential student training through both the anti-bias/bullying lessons with their home room teachers and the campus-wide prevention initiatives.

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Multi-Agency Collaboration:
"Safe and successful learning environments are fostered through collaboration among school staff and community-based service providers while also integrating existing initiatives in the school" (A Framework for Safe and Successful Schools, 2013).

When the needs of a student surpasses what the school counselor can provide, collaboration between the school and local support resources should take place in order to minimize the risks and threats to the student.  The counselor needs to have a resource guide to provide to parents that contains information over local options they can seek for their child.  This resource guide should provide all information needed by the parents in order to contact the agency including phone number, address, business hours, etc.  Through collaboration with the parents, the service providers, and the counselor, this will give the student the best opportunity to have optimum success.

Bullying Intervention Opportunities:
Bullying interventions can be put in place at the school, classroom and individual levels.

School:
*A bullying assessment can be given to the school as a whole to assess the issue.
*Teachers and staff should be trained and aware of what to do when bullying is reported. *Increased supervision can be added in the hallways, cafeteria, playground, and gym.
*There should be ongoing meetings between parents and staff when needed.

Classroom:
*The use of a whole group guided curriculum that focuses on kindness, communication cooperation, and friendship.
*Brief and clear class rules over not bullying others.
*There should be immediate consequences for those who do not follow the rules created by the class.

Individual:
*One on one meetings with the bully.
*One on one meetings with the victims.
*Continuous contact with the bully and their parents as well as with the victims and their parents (Education World, 2020).

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Social-By training students and teachers, social supports can be offered on campus and in the classroom.  Social Awareness is the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.  Guidance programs that promote social awareness will help students learn an almost unteachable skill called empathy.  Social supports can come from leadership groups throughout the school, administrators, community stakeholders, the school board, parents, and peers.  Social supports are not isolated to a single group.

Emotional-The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines SEL as the processes through which children and adults acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to recognize and manage their emotions, demonstrate care and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging social situations constructively.  Counselors who initiate programs that focus on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making set students up to be able to calm themselves when angry, initiate healthy relationships, resolve relationship conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices.

https://www.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/3_SEL_and_Bullying_Prevention_2009.pdf

Behavioral- Horner, Ross, and Stiller (2020) advocate for "giving students the tools to reduce bullying behavior by blending school wide positive behavior supports" (p. 1). It's a simple response to problem behavior and a functional approach to the bullying construct.  In their middle school curriculum, they focus on teaching social responsibility skills, how to deal with gossip, inappropriate remarks, and cyber bullying.  Gietz,  Good, and McIntosh (2020) suggest integrating bullying prevention into schoolwide positive behavior support.   It is the duty of the school staff to collaborate and find a way to include this support in the day-to-day classroom environment.

https://njbullying.org/documents/BullyingPosBehSupports.pdf

Horner, Ross, Stiller. (2020) Bullying prevention in positive behavior support. Retrieved from https://www.cde.state.co.us/mtss/bp-pbs_pbs_middle

Mental Health- Mental health professionals can collect and use data to initiate prevention efforts.  They can train and advise educators, families, and students. When collaborating with educators, they can develop policies about bullying to improve school climate and safety.  Counselors should communicate often between school-based and community-based mental health professionals.

https://www.stopbullying.gov/sites/default/files/2017-09/hrsa_guide_mental-health-professionals_508.pdf

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The most appropriate way to assess at-risk behaviors is by providing an electronic needs assessment to the students.  Questions included in the needs assessment could screen for bullying tendencies as well as give the victims opportunities to be heard.  Questions could include how they spend their time off campus, what they do when they get bored, and what groups they associate with off campus.  Questions directly related to bullying can also be asked.  Does the student feel like they are being bullied?  If so, where, when, how?  By asking these, the counselor could narrow down which individuals are crying out for help.

Risks in Today's World
Inappropriate messages through texting and social media outside of school can lead to conflict and tension within the high school classroom.  Harvard Law, 2019 states,  “With the prevalence of smartphones has come the rise of sexting, the electronic transmission of sexually explicit and intimate messages, photos, and videos. One in seven teenagers has sent a sext; one in four has received one” (p. 2419).  Schools and court systems are facing a combined challenge when considering students’ privacy rights and the law.  Extensive measures have to be taken in order to involve the law and sadly they are happening.   Sexting or sharing images of minors participating in such activities falls under solicitation of child pornography, and at that point, schools are taking up phones and reporting students. Students and parents are expecting their right to privacy and their expectation of privacy on school grounds to be respected, but when student reports are made of such messages being sent, students must be reported to the law. Phones are being taken more often and inspected, and pictures are being found. School officials think nothing of taking cell phones from students and going through them (Richards, 2009).  Setty (2019) did a study on sex roles and confirmed,  “Young women's sexual and bodily self-expression can be met with slut-shaming and abuse, whereas young men are lauded for engaging in sexting and can obtain social capital through the unauthorized distribution of images of young women in their peer group” (p. 587).  For high school students, sexting has been associated with exploitative and abusive sexual relationships including abuse and intimate partner violence, with various predictors of sexting for girls and boys (Titchen, et. al. 2019).  When these behaviors occur, students can be personally or mentally affected by association.  Peer shaming occurs on campus and completely disrupts the learning environment.  Shaming creates a level of anxiety within the students involved and leads to increased absences or even illegal means of coping, such as drugs or alcohol.  The demographics and needs assessment can also be used to asses at-risk behaviors.  In many observed instances, white females, low SES students, minority students, and students with physical disabilities are at risk for being bullied.

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Many schools follow what the government has provided nation-wide in respect to bullying. For example, when there is suspicion of bullying, a student should contact the teacher first, followed by the school counselor, and then school principal (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, 2019).

It is vital that staff is trained to recognize the signs of bullying, what bullying is and can look like, the school's policies and rules, and how to enforce the rules. The best way to address bullying is to stop it before it starts. Therefore, it is important to implement lessons, discussions, or creative writing opportunities.

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Blake et al. (2015) reports that "current state legislation also does not specify what criteria should be used to determine the adverse impact of bullying on the safety and subsequent educational experiences of victimized students" (p. 138). Consequently, there is almost complete autonomy in the way that school counseling programs assess the mental health of victims of bullying after the fact. Due to the nature of bias, "multi-informants and multi-methods" are needed to properly assess victim's mental health after severe bullying has occurred (Blake et al., 2015, p. 238). In addition to gathering information from various people who are close to an at-risk student, another layer of protecting students could be to utilize online tools such as AssessMD's Bully and Bullied Risk Assessment (Click for link).

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Universal Screening Assessments for All Students

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Universal Screening Assessments for All Students

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"School-wide universal screening for behavioral and mental health issues is a practice that has become more
prevalent" and is now recommended by The National Association of School Psychologists, The National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, who built upon criteria established by the World Health Organization (O’Connell et al., 2009, p. 4). Universal screening for behavioral and mental health issues can help with early identification of students who are at-risk or in need of intervention. Research suggests that significantly more students require mental health or behavioral services than currently receive them (NASP, 2009). Universal screening for these concerns, particularly when implemented within a multi-tiered
model of behavioral support, may help these students receive earlier services and prevent the need for more intensive special education services or more stable behavior patterns in the future. However, some research suggests that less than 5 percent of schools engage in mental health screening, and those
that do, may not adequately use screening data to inform interventions (Vannest, 2012). The process needed to implement a universal screening for all students would include:

Establishing the school leadership team

Identifying key areas to screen and select appropriate instruments

Plan for implementation

Administer the screening

Use the results to drive the intervention

Evaluate the progress

As part of establishing the school leadership team, team members would need to be assigned roles.  Agendas would need to be set for meetings that align with the campus goals for intervention and prevention. When identifying key areas, the screening should be based on the relevance to the school's demographics and characteristics. The screener would need to be validated in a sample similar to the population being served. The cost should not outweigh the benefits.  Stakeholders and staff should be involved and properly trained.  Results should be provided to stakeholders, parents, teachers, and staff. A decision should be made on which risk level to target.

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Texas Education Code (TEC) §37.0832 “David’s Law”,  identifies bullying as a single significant act or a pattern of acts by one or more students directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct and that has the effect or will have the effect of physically harming a student, damaging a student's property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's person or of damage to the student's property;  is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student; materially and substantially disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of a classroom or school, or infringes on the rights of the victim at school.

Cyberbullying is bullying that involves the use of any electronic communication device, including through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, an Internet website, or any other Internet-based communication tool (TEA, 2020).

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Tex. Educ. Code § 37.001, requires schools to implement a student code of conduct protecting students from bullying.

Tex. Educ. Code § 37.0832 (State Statutory Law) requires schools to establish policies preventing and mediating incidents of bullying that interfere with a student's educational opportunities or substantially disrupt the orderly operation of school activities.  Tex. Educ. Code § 37.002 allows a teacher to remove a student from the classroom that has consistent patterns of being abusive, disruptive, or has present bully-like behavior.

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A “threat” is a concerning communication or behavior that indicates that an individual
poses a danger to the safety of school staff or students through acts of violence or other
behavior that would cause harm to self or others. The threat may be communicated behaviorally, orally, visually, in writing, electronically, or through any other means, and
is considered a threat regardless of whether it is observed by or communicated directly to the target of the threat or observed by or communicated to a third party, and
regardless of whether the target of the threat is aware of the threat.

According to the Texas State School Safety Center, developing a threat assessment program that can be conducted by the Safe and Supportive School Program Team should include the following 8 steps:
1. Create and promote safe school climates.
2. Establish a multidisciplinary team.
3. Define prohibited and concerning behaviors.
4. Create a central reporting mechanism.
5. Determine threshold for law enforcement intervention.
6. Establish threat assessment procedures.
7. Develop risk management options.
8. Conduct training for all stakeholders.

The Texas State School Safety Center suggests this template for assessing a potential threat. It's important to create a threat assessment based on the needs of the school.  There's not an ideal universal assessment. The leadership team will have to create an assessment that will allow them to target one area to work on.  It will need to align with the educational goals of the campus.

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Yoon and Bauman (2014) state "in the daily events of a school, it is the teachers who are most often in the position to intervene when bullying occurs" (p. 308-309). Because of this position to intervene it is essential that teachers and other staff members have adequate training in regards to responses to bullying.

Tex. Educ. Code § 21.451
Staff development must be provided and conducted in accordance with standards developed by the district and designed to improve education in the district. Specifically, item 3.E. states that trainings on preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting incidents of bullying must be included annually. Districts must implement a student code of conduct, include suicide training with prevention and awareness, as well as grief support, positive behavior intervention and support strategies, including classroom management, district discipline policies, and the student code of conduct adopted under Chapter 37.

Staff Training Resources

Stopbullying.gov offers a national bullying prevention training center.  Many campuses require teachers to complete this course each year as a professional development requirement.

https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/training-center

Teaching Tolerance provides bullying guidelines for teachers. This comprehensive list includes the "do's" and "don'ts" of bullying intervention.

https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/bullying-guidelines-for-teachers

Common Sense Education provides  cyber-bullying prevention information as well as lesson plans that can be used to teach online safety and respect.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/teachers-essential-guide-to-cyberbullying-prevention?utm_content=a46a392ad5a4d2166d74b9a25310bb47&utm_campaign=WSC%20Update%20Issue%2094&utm_source=Robly.com&utm_medium=email

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(b-1) A superintendent or director of a school district, district of innovation, open-enrollment charter school, regional education service center, or shared services arrangement shall complete an investigation of an educator that involves evidence that the educator may have engaged in misconduct described by Subsection (b)(2)(A) or (A-1), despite the educator's resignation from employment before completion of the investigation.

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Utilizing the Demographics and Needs Assessment

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Utilizing the Demographics and Needs Assessment

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A needs assessment tool is a formalized way to gather information about school-based bullying, such as the nature, intensity, locations, and types of bullying that occur within a school. With the information gathered through the needs assessment, schools will have a better understanding of what is going on, how to target prevention efforts, and how to measure program impact over time. To fully understand the needs of your school, information from all parties involved in bullying should be gathered which includes the bullies, victims, bystanders, teachers, school staff, and school administrators. The needs assessment will be used anonymously between staff and students and it would focus on specific issues related to bullying.  The feedback from the survey would be used to raise staff awareness about the nature, prevalence, and consequences of bullying in the school. It can also be a living document and be reused to evaluate the effectiveness of the counseling program in the future.  By keeping it anonymous, the reliability would be increased and the limitations of the assessment would be decreased.

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Referrals for Students Needing Additional Support

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Referrals for Students Needing Additional Support

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A multi-tiered approach is sometimes best, depending on the need. If the needs assessment is anonymous, it's hard to find isolated needs until groups are broken down and met with individually. If the concerns are isolated to a single area of the school, small group counseling lessons will be most beneficial. It's within those small groups that on occasion, an individual will stand out as needing additional support.  If that is the case, parent contact will need to be made and in certain instances, the counselor will need to collaborate with the child's family and possibly the child's medical providers. In some cases, the students carrying out the acts of bullying are the ones that need additional support. In other cases, it is the students being bullied.  The short and long-term effects of bullying can be devastating and it should be addressed immediately.

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Special Populations Requiring Additional Support

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Special Populations Requiring Additional Support

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According to the U.S. Government, "children with disabilities—such as physical, developmental, intellectual, emotional, and sensory disabilities—are at an increased risk of being bullied" (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA), 2020). Any number of factors— physical vulnerability, social skill challenges, or intolerant environments—may increase the risk. Research suggests that some children with disabilities may bully others as well. Kids with special health needs, such as epilepsy or food allergies, may also be at higher risk of being bullied. In this specific case bullying can include making fun of kids because of their allergies or exposing them what they are allergic to. In these cases, bullying is not just serious, it can be dangerous, potentially resulting in death.

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Students who bully will also need support in order to fix their previous behaviors. School staff should be prepared to:

Help the child understand how their actions affect other people.

Praise acts of kindness.

Provide social skills lessons on how to be a good friend.

(Stop Bullying, n.d.)