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Providing Counseling Services in High Schools

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ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies

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The Michigan Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program

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The School Counselor and Bullying/Harassment Prevention and the Promotion of Safe Schools

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School counselors understand the positive effects of a safe and caring school environment. Through participation in prevention programs and activities aimed at anti-bullying, anti-harassment and violence prevention, school counselors foster opportunities for students to learn communication, problem solving and conflict resolution skills that help them achieve their goals and establish successful relationships.

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Bullying Lesson Plan from Waterford Public Schools

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Burkburnett High School Anti-Bullying Video

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Transcript

I'm one of many people in this world born with a disability that cannot be seen.

I have Asperger's syndrome.

I am not that different.

I love model trains, video games.

And World War I and II documentaries.

To my parents, I am exceptional.

To my siblings, I'm annoying. I do the best I can in school and at home.

I hate chores and like most teenagers, would agree that school can be a drag. I moved schools. I thought I could start fresh.

Less schooling, more friends.

New reputation!

Turns out, I was wrong.

Turns out, I was wrong. After a week of being there, I had already been bullied.

Others can't see my struggle.

I have trouble fitting in, socializing, and making friends.

I push myself, and yet it is never enough.

It's never enough.

And it's hard to ask for what I need. I wish others could see that I may not be tough on the football field.

Or deal with social events very well. But I am a dependable friend.

It is hard to be understood.

It's hard to be understood.

Sometimes, we're just told to deal with it.

Sometimes I don't think I'm any different from other teenagers.

We kind of all struggle to be understood.

But yeah, I struggle.

Emotionally and intellectually. It's sad when people are insulted and made fun of because they have something they were born with and cannot help but have. If only others could see that I have so much to offer.

I would like to encourage kids in my generation.

Well, really everyone.

To be more kind to each other.

To be more kind to each other.

To be more kind to each other.

Think about how good it feels when someone comes to help you. When you least expect it.

We are all trying to fit in.

We are all trying to fit in.

We are all trying to figure life out.

We are all trying to figure life out.

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THIS I BELIEVE - National Bullying Prevention Center

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Five high school students read an adaptation of an essay written by a 14-year-old, who shares what it is like to experience bullying and to be misunderstood as he tries to figure life out.

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THE REVISED SCHOOL CODE (EXCERPT)
Act 451 of 1976

380.1310b Policy prohibiting bullying; adoption and implementation; public hearing; submission of policy to department; contents of policy; annual report of incidents of bullying; form and procedure; school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or parent or guardian reporting act of bullying to school official; modified policy; definitions; section to be known as "Matt Epling Safe School Law."
Sec. 1310b.

(1) The board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall adopt and implement a policy prohibiting bullying at school, as defined in this section.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), before adopting the policy required under subsection (1) or any modification to the policy, the board or board of directors shall hold at least 1 public hearing on the proposed policy or modification. This public hearing may be held as part of a regular board meeting. Subject to subsection (3), not later than 30 days after adopting or modifying the policy under subsection (1), the board or board of directors shall submit a copy of its policy to the department.

(3) If, as of March 31, 2015, a school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy has already adopted and implemented an existing policy prohibiting bullying at school and that policy is in compliance with subsections (1) and (5), the board of the school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of the public school academy is not required to adopt and implement a modified policy under subsection (1). However, this subsection applies to a school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy described in this subsection only if the board or board of directors submits a copy of its policy to the department not later than May 31, 2015.

(4) Not later than 1 year after the deadline under subsection (2) for districts and public school academies to submit copies of their modified policies to the department, the department shall submit a report to the senate and house standing committees on education summarizing the status of the implementation of the modifications to policies required under 2014 PA 478.

(5) A policy adopted pursuant to subsection (1) shall include at least all of the following:

(a) A statement prohibiting bullying of a pupil. Not later than October 1, 2015, this statement shall be modified as necessary to comply with 2014 PA 478 including, but not limited to, the inclusion of cyberbullying as a form of bullying.

(b) A statement prohibiting retaliation or false accusation against a target of bullying, a witness, or another person with reliable information about an act of bullying.

(c) A provision indicating that all pupils are protected under the policy and that bullying is equally prohibited without regard to its subject matter or motivating animus.

(d) The identification by job title of school officials responsible for ensuring that the policy is implemented.

(e) A statement describing how the policy is to be publicized.

(f) A procedure for providing notification to the parent or legal guardian of a victim of bullying and the parent or legal guardian of a perpetrator of the bullying.

(g) A procedure for reporting an act of bullying.

(h) A procedure for prompt investigation of a report of violation of the policy or a related complaint, identifying either the principal or the principal's designee as the person responsible for the investigation.

(i) A procedure for each public school to document any prohibited incident that is reported and a procedure to report all verified incidents of bullying and the resulting consequences, including discipline and referrals, to the board of the school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of the public school academy on an annual basis.

(j) An assurance of confidentiality for an individual who reports an act of bullying and procedures to safeguard that confidentiality.

(6) The legislature encourages a board or board of directors to include all of the following in the policy required under this section:

(a) Provisions to form bullying prevention task forces, programs, teen courts, and other initiatives involving school staff, pupils, school clubs or other student groups, administrators, volunteers, parents, law enforcement, community members, and other stakeholders.

(b) A requirement for annual training for administrators, school employees, and volunteers who have significant contact with pupils on preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting incidents of bullying.

(c) A requirement for educational programs for pupils and parents on preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting incidents of bullying and cyberbullying.

(d) Provisions for considering the use of restorative practices in the correction of bullying behavior, as described in section 1310c.

(7) The department shall establish a form and procedure for school districts and public school academies to report incidents of bullying to the department on an annual basis and shall make this information readily available to the public. A school district or public school academy shall report incidents of bullying to the department according to the form and procedures established by the department. The department shall ensure that the information collected and made available under this subsection does not include personally identifiable information about any individual who reports or is involved in a specific incident of bullying.

(8) A school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or parent or guardian who promptly reports in good faith an act of bullying to the appropriate school official designated in the school district's or public school academy's policy and who makes this report in compliance with the procedures set forth in the policy is immune from a cause of action for damages arising out of the reporting itself or any failure to remedy the reported incident. However, this immunity does not apply to a school official who is designated under subsection (5)(d), or who is responsible for remedying the bullying, when acting in that capacity.

(9) If the board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy amends or otherwise modifies its policy required under this subsection at any time after a copy of the policy was initially submitted to the department under subsection (2) or (3), the board or board of directors shall submit a copy of the modified policy to the department not later than 30 days after adopting the modification.

(10) As used in this section:

(a) "At school" means in a classroom, elsewhere on school premises, on a school bus or other school-related vehicle, or at a school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is held on school premises. "At school" includes conduct using a telecommunications access device or telecommunications service provider that occurs off school premises if the telecommunications access device or the telecommunications service provider is owned by or under the control of the school district or public school academy.

(b) "Bullying" means any written, verbal, or physical act, or any electronic communication, including, but not limited to, cyberbullying, that is intended or that a reasonable person would know is likely to harm 1 or more pupils either directly or indirectly by doing any of the following:

(i) Substantially interfering with educational opportunities, benefits, or programs of 1 or more pupils.

(ii) Adversely affecting the ability of a pupil to participate in or benefit from the school district's or public school's educational programs or activities by placing the pupil in reasonable fear of physical harm or by causing substantial emotional distress.

(iii) Having an actual and substantial detrimental effect on a pupil's physical or mental health.

(iv) Causing substantial disruption in, or substantial interference with, the orderly operation of the school.

(c) "Cyberbullying" means any electronic communication that is intended or that a reasonable person would know is likely to harm 1 or more pupils either directly or indirectly by doing any of the following:

(i) Substantially interfering with educational opportunities, benefits, or programs of 1 or more pupils.

(ii) Adversely affecting the ability of a pupil to participate in or benefit from the school district's or public school's educational programs or activities by placing the pupil in reasonable fear of physical harm or by causing substantial emotional distress.

(iii) Having an actual and substantial detrimental effect on a pupil's physical or mental health.

(iv) Causing substantial disruption in, or substantial interference with, the orderly operation of the school.

(d) "Restorative practices" means that term as defined in section 1310c.

(e) "Telecommunications access device" and "telecommunications service provider" mean those terms as defined in section 219a of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.219a.

(11) This section shall be known as "The Matt Epling Safe School Law".

History: Add. 2011, Act 241, Imd. Eff. Dec. 6, 2011 ;-- Am. 2014, Act 478, Eff. Mar. 31, 2015 ;-- Am. 2016, Act 362, Eff. Aug. 1, 2017
Popular Name: Act 451

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
THE REVISED SCHOOL CODE (EXCERPT) Act 451 of 1976 380.1310b Policy prohibiting bullying; adoption and implementation; public hearing; submission of policy to department; contents of policy; annual report of incidents of bullying; form and procedure; school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or parent or guardian reporting act of bullying to school official; modified policy; definitions; section to be known as "Matt Epling Safe School Law."