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hey guys dont worry not actually a hacker no idea what this is or really what im doing here but want you all to know ur all beautiful and i love u

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I absolutely love this padlet. Bullying is such a problem in schools. When I was in high school, I saw it and I even see it in college sometimes. There are so many effects of bullying that are detrimental to the victims, bullies, and even the bystanders.
-Kyla Cox

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Nearly one in five students in an average classroom is experiencing bullying in some way. The rest of the students, called bystanders, are also affected by the bullying. ¹

The Bullying Circle

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program describes students involved or witnessing a bullying situation as having roles in the Bullying Circle ²:

The Impact of Bullying

A single student who bullies can have a wide-ranging impact on the students they bully, students who observe bullying, and the overall climate of the school and community.

Students Who are Bullied

Students deserve to feel safe at school. But when they experience bullying, these types of effects can last long into their future:

Observers of Bullying

Students who see bullying happen also may feel that they are in an unsafe environment. Effects may include feeling:

Students Who Bully Others

Students who intentionally bully others should be held accountable for their actions. Those who bully their peers are also more likely than those students who do not bully others to *:

Steal and vandalize property

Perceive a negative climate at school

Schools with Bullying Issues

When bullying continues and a school does not take action, the entire school climate can be affected in the following ways:

The school develops an environment of fear and disrespect

Students have difficulty learning

Students perceive that teachers and staff have little control and don't care about them

* Not all students who bully others have obvious behavior problems or are engaged in rule-breaking activities, however. Some of them are highly skilled socially and good at ingratiating themselves with their teacher and other adults. This is true of some boys who bully but is perhaps even more common among bullying girls. For this reason it is often difficult for adults to discover or even imagine that these students engage in bullying behavior.

Contact Our Sales Staff

Our National Outreach Sales Representatives are ready to help you.

They are knowledgeable in Hazelden products and well-versed in the needs of prevention, treatment, and criminal justice providers.

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How Bullying Affects Children | Violence Prevention Works

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Nearly one in five students in an average classroom is experiencing bullying in some way. The rest of the students, called bystanders, are also affected by the bullying.

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This problem occurs throughout everyone lives. Kids don't just bully at school in over the computer. Children also go home and bully parents and siblings. This matter is very scary.
-Delaney Philpott

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Children who bully at school are likely to also bully their siblings at home, a new European study finds.

While the results may not sound surprising, they do help give the matter some perspective.

The study involved 195 children age 10 to 12. Each had a sibling no more than four years older or younger than them. Children were given questionnaires that asked whether they were a victim of bullying, or bullied their peers at school, and whether they were a victim of bullying by a sibling or bullied a sibling at home.

"Children with older male siblings were the most victimized group," said Ersilia Menesini of the Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Italy.

Significantly more boys than girls said they bullied their sibling - who was most likely to be younger than them. It's likely that this form of sibling bullying is all about maintaining a position of dominance, the researchers figure.

"However, for girls, bullying is mainly related to a poor quality of sibling relationship and not to birth order," Menesini said in a statement. "In fact, high levels of conflict and low levels of empathy were significantly related to sibling bullying and sibling victimization."

Children who bullied siblings were likely to bully their peers, while victims at home were likely to also be victimized at school.

"It is not possible to tell from our study which behavior comes first, but it is likely that if children behave in a certain way at home, bullying a sibling for instance, if this behavior goes unchecked they may take this behavior into school," Menesini said.

The behavior doesn't necessarily end with growing up. Other studies have documented significant bullying in the workplace.

The results are detailed online by the British Journal of Developmental Psychology.

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Children who bully at school are likely to also bully their siblings at home, a new European study finds. While the results may not sound surprising, they do help give the matter some perspective. The study involved 195 children age 10 to 12. Each had a sibling no more than four years older or younger than them.

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It is so important to educate both students and all staff on what bullying is and what to do about it.https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/at-school/educate/
-Bethany McMullin

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I'm not sure if we are supposed to post on here or not, but just in case we are... I love that you chose bullying as your subject for this. There are a lot of warning signs of someone being bullied that people do not notice on a daily basis. It is important as teachers to notice it and to take action.

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As much as we can bully others, we are also very capable of bullying ourselves. We need to recognize and teach our students to recognize what it is and how to prevent it or even stop it.
-Graham Bany

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Over-personalisation

It is very common for the tunnel vision of depression to narrow your focus so much that you find yourself over-personalising outside events or actions of others. For example, instantly believing that your friend's worried look means you have done something to upset them (rather than being something to do with their own concerns). Personalisation also leads to taking on an inappropriate amount of responsibility for things or self-blame.

Self blame

Blaming happens when we are trying to identify reasons for things happening - usually because we want to prevent them happening again. It is often tempting to make simplistic judgements about who is to blame as this gives simple seeming 'solutions' to problems.

Self-blaming can make things paradoxically feel more hopeful - we feel as if we have more power to change things if we can believe that the fault lies within our own control. Blaming ourselves instead of others can also be a way to try to protect ourselves from conflicts with others.

Perfectionism

Taking inappropriate responsibility for 'getting it right' in this way is closely linked with perfectionism or a tendency to base self-worth or self-acceptance on performance or 'success'. However, setting unrealistically high standards for oneself is more likely to lead instead to repeated experiences of demoralising 'failure', underachievement, procrastination, self-blame and self-bullying.

Self criticism and self attack

Perfectionism or self blame often lead to habits of self-criticism. We may believe that we will only do things if we 'kick butt' with threats and punishments.

But overusing this form of motivation becomes self-defeating in depression - we beat ourselves down beyond any motivation.

This self-critical habit can spiral into self attack, where we make the mistake of believing that we are bad because we feel bad (emotional reasoning) and go into an aggressive all-or-nothing mode of self blame.

This self attack and sometimes even self-hatred are the basis for the feelings of worthlessness or hopelessness which help to entrench depression.

Learning self compassion

Learning how to challenge the depressed thinking habits which maintain self bullying, and building skills of self compassion, are vital longer-term strategies in resisting depression. A helpful first step would be to notice how often you are self critical and to start to acknowledge your own self bullying habit.

Understanding why

Not understanding why you are depressed commonly leads to over-simplistic self-blaming explanations. In the next section you can learn more about the complexities of what causes depression and why you may have become vulnerable to depression.

Take Action

My depression spiral
Self-compassion quiz

Related

Taking care of yourself
Learning self-compassion
Coping with self-harming urges

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It is very common for the tunnel vision of depression to narrow your focus so much that you find yourself over-personalising outside events or actions of others. For example, instantly believing that your friend's worried look means you have done something to upset them (rather than being something to do with their own concerns).

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As teachers we are responsible for our students. we have to try and protect them from everything we can. Cyber bullying is rampant in today's world and this article addresses a few things teachers can do about it. -Whitney Roderick

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Thanks to its partnership with publisher Eye on Education, EducationWorld is pleased to present these tips, adapted from Dropout Prevention Fieldbook: Best Practices from the Field and 152 Ways to Keep Students in School: Effective, Easy-to-Implement Tips for Teachers, by Franklin Schargel.

Bullying is an ever-present problem in our schools, and can include physical threats, teasing, and harassment ( National Association of School Psychologists). It is estimated that between 15 % and 30% of all students are either bullies or victims. Cyberbullying occurs when a child, preteen, or teen is bullied by another child, preteen, or teen using the Internet, or any interactive digital technology ( www.stopcyberbullying.org).

What Can Teachers Do to Reduce Future Occurrences of Bullying?

1. Discuss Bullying: Give students the opportunity to discuss bullying. Have the class come up with rules against bullying and involve them in determining that bullying behavior is unacceptable. Provide classroom activities and discussion opportunities related to bullying and violence, including the harm they cause and strategies to reduce their incidence.

2. Teach Cooperation: Teach cooperation by assigning projects that require collaboration. Such cooperation teaches students how to compromise and how to assert without demanding. Take care to vary grouping of participants and to monitor the treatment of and by participants in each group.

3. Develop a Plan: Develop a classroom action plan to ensure that students know what to do when they observe a bully-victim confrontation.

4. Take Immediate Action: Take immediate action when bullying is observed. All teachers and school staff must let children know they care and will not allow anyone to be mistreated. By taking immediate action and dealing directly with the bully, adults support both the victim and the witnesses.

5. Confront in Private: Confront bullies in private. Challenging bullies in front of their peers may actually enhance their status and lead to further aggression.

6. Involve Parents: Notify parents of both victims and bullies when a confrontation occurs. Listen receptively to parents who report bullying, and investigate reported circumstances so appropriate school action may be taken.

EducationWorld resources on bullying:

The Best Bullying Prevention Schools Aren't Doing
Teacher educator Dr. Lyn Mikel Brown says educators and kids need to get beyond talk of "perpetrators" and "victims" and embrace the complexity that characterizes student mistreatment.

Lesson Plan Booster: How Can Students Help a Bullied Peer?
This discussion guide for middle- and high-school students helps youth learn about safe ways to help a classmate who has been mistreated.

For more ideas on how to combat bullying and cyberbullying in your classroom, check out these useful links:

Education World®
Copyright © 2011 Education World

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Bullying and Cyberbullying: What Teachers Can Do | Education World

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Thanks to its partnership with publisher Eye on Education , EducationWorld is pleased to present these tips, adapted from Dropout Prevention Fieldbook: Best Practices from the Field and 152 Ways to Keep Students in School: Effective, Easy-to-Implement Tips for Teachers, by Franklin Schargel.

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Cyberbullying and what schools should do about it!

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Cyberbullying and what schools should do about it!

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I feel like in today's technological era, cyberbullying has become a huge problem in schools not only in the U.S. but throughout the world and in some ways it's inevitable. Since cyberbullying allows the bullies to be anonymous and hide behind a screen, it is for teachers/schools to know who is doing it. I really liked how this website included what is considered cyberbullying and how it incorporates parents along with the schools.
-Maria Birck

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On September 22, 2010, Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University in New Jersey, leaped to his death off of the George Washington Bridge in New York after his roommate secretly videotaped a romantic encounter between Clementi and another man and posted it on the web. (Littler, 2011)

January 14, 2010, after yet another day of harassment at school and finally being pelted with a can tossed at her from a car as a group of students drove by, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince hanged herself in the stairwell of the family's apartment in South Hadley, Massachusetts. After her death, a Facebooktribute page in her memory had many crude comments posted by the bullies. (Vijay D, 2010)

Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier committed suicide in October of 2006 after a 16-year-old online friend, "Josh Evans" sent disparaging messages, humiliated her, and finally broke off the friendship commenting that "...the world would be a better place without you." Despondent, Megan hanged herself 20 minutes later in her bedroom. "Josh Evans" was later discovered to be a fictional account set up by the mother of Megan's former friend who created the ruse to get information about Megan and embarrass her in retribution for Megan allegedly spreading gossip about her daughter. (Littler, 2011)

In October 2008, 16-year-old Sladjana Vidovic tied a rope around her neck and the other end of it to her bed post and killed herself by jumping out of her window. Sladjana, who had moved to Ohio from Bosnia when she was a young girl, had been tormented by bullies at her school who mocked her thick accent, called her names like "Slutty Jana" and threw food at her. Shockingly, at her wake, the girls who had tormented Sladjana for months walked up to her casket and laughed. Sladjana's family witnessed this. Possibly more shocking is the fact that Sladjana's suicide was the fourth suicide in slightly more than 2 years in the small Ohio suburb. All four were bullied for perceived differences-one was bullied for being gay, the second for her learning disability, and the third because he was a boy who liked to wear pink. (Nuss, 2010)

Ryan Patrick Halligan, of Essex Junction, Vermont, committed suicide when he was 13 after repeated bullying from his classmates at school and cyberbullying. Because Ryan was small in stature and had a learning disability, he may have felt more secure in an online environment until other schoolchildren figured out who he was online and began tormenting him through instant messenger. (Littler, 2011)

Bullying Becomes Nonstop

Bullying is not a new behavior-as long as there have been schoolyards, streets, malls, and playgrounds both in and out of schools, there has been bullying. But now, in our cyber-age society, bullying has taken a much more pervasive role. While in the past, victims of bullying might have been able to at least find some relief at home or away from the playground and schoolyards, technology has provided the opportunity for bullying to be a 24/7 torment. Cyberbullying (bullying and intimidation through online media such as texting, social networking, blogs, and emails) has now made bullying more insidious as it's crept from the public forum of schoolyards and other hangouts where teachers and parents might have a chance at witnessing it, to laptops and cell phones, where it's less likely to be seen by responsible adults or caring parents. Cyberbullying also always involves minors (children). Once adults are involved in online harassment or intimidation, it is referred to as cyber harassment or cyber stalking. While not all cyberbullying results in suicide, it often can lead to self-destructive behaviors such as alcohol and drug abuse in response to the stress and depression caused by cyberbullying and some cases have even resulted in children killing each other. (WiredKids, Inc)

It's hard to believe that no responsible adults were aware of how these children were suffering or that no one spoke up to help them. In fact, Sladjana's parents were aware of the bullying and had begged the school to intervene many times and were promised the situation would be taken care of. However, it can be very difficult for schools to get involved with addressing cyberbullying incidents that often take place off of the school grounds, or at the very least, it's hard to prove that the bullying did occur during school hours and at school. Issues of freedom of speech and exceeding the school's authority come into play. (WiredKids, Inc.) However, it's clear that this is an issue that can have such serious consequences that both schools and parents must partner to address.
What Schools Can Do
There are steps that schools can take to address the issue of cyberbullying, and first and foremost is to promote a culture of mutual respect and a tolerance or appreciation for diversity. Schools can provide information to students about the legal ramifications of cyberbullying as well as make it a part of the school's policy and student code of conduct with regard to the use of technology and appropriate and respectful interactions that do not compromise the physical, emotional health of students, with specific consequences detailed. (WiredKids, Inc.). Educating children about the possible negative effects of posting personal information online and providing training about how to remove personal information that shouldn't be online can alleviate opportunities for cyberbullying attacks.

It's important for both children and teens to understand exactly what cyberbullying is and how it can affect others. While most kids are pretty clear on what typical bullying behavior might be, they need to understand that any type of online behavior, whether through websites, emails, texting, blogs, or other comments, that can be hurtful to another person's reputation or self esteem is considered cyberbullying. A lot of kids may not even consider cyberbullying as bullying until they fully understand how it can affect the other person. (Langholt, 2011) But, as these real-life cases above have shown us, cyberbullying can be infinitely more painful than the physical wounds of actual physical bullying.
What is Considered Cyberbullying?
Some students may not even realize that the behaviors they are engaging in fall within the scope of cyberbullying, especially if their initial motivations are to be funny or joking. However, the following are all forms of cyberbulling: starting online fights with aggressive or offensive language that will rile people up and ignite mean conversations, repeatedly harassing others, making demeaning comments, posting gossip, or purposefully trying to exclude someone from an online group to hurt them. Likewise impersonating someone else in order to create trouble or embarrass someone as well as revealing humiliating secrets or information online are forms of bullying (Langholt, 2011).
Parents and Schools as Partners Against Cyberbullying
Integrating specific lessons on what cyberbullying is, the devastating effects it can have, and what to do if one observes or is a victim of cyberbullying are important first steps for schools to add to their curriculum. Creating very specific policies and student codes of conduct that address technology use and abuse (both in and out of school) as well as creating a culture of respect and tolerance can have important positive effects. Ensuring that students and parents understand that the school does take an active role and interest in preventing cyberbullying and will respond swiftly and severely with incidents of cyberbullying can also help to bring cyberbullying to light. Parent education sessions can also help parents note signs of cyberbullying victims and cyberbullies so that they can be aware of appropriate responses to avoid over- or underreact. Taking the time to teach cyber ethics, involving school counselors when necessary, and addressing and resolving reports of cyberbullying quickly and immediately can make it less likely for repeated incidents. (Shangkuan Koo, 2011)
New Jersey's Stand-Setting the Stage for Others
A school's free will in determining its level of involvement with the cyberbullying issue may be quickly coming to an end. On September 1, 2011, New Jersey affected a new anti-bullying law, called the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights as a response to the death of Tyler Clementi. This law is considered by some to be the toughest in the nation. According to New Jersey State Senate majority leader Barbara Buono, it is "a powerful message to every child in New Jersey" that any child bullied has the full support of the state, his/her school administrators and teachers, as well as the police because this law requires schools to thoroughly investigate any allegations of bullying within one day of reporting. In addition, the law will require comprehensive training for teachers and students, the creation of teams of support made up of both parents and teachers to investigate claims of bullying, and provides accountability to schools as they will be assessed on how well they handle bullying issues. This new tougher bullying law will require the disciplining of any administrators who ignore reported claims of bullying and students who are found guilty of bullying can be suspended or expelled. Likewise, all school employees must take an active role in protecting students from bullying as they are required to report any incidents they hear about, whether they happen at school or outside the school setting. (Friedman, 2011)

New Jersey has the right idea, and while 47 other states also have some form of anti-bullying laws, most do not require the extensive training and curriculum for education about bullying and do not provide for the immediate response to reported issues. The state of New Jersey has recognized the growing crisis of bullying (both cyberbullying and the traditional form) and is no longer willing to accept its devastating effects. At last, victims of bullying need not suffer in silence, but instead are supported and heard and, in some cases, this can be the difference between life and death.

References

Cohen, A. (2011, Sept. 6). Why New Jersey's antibullying law should be a model. Retrieved from Time at http://ideas.time.com/2011/09/06/why-new-jerseys-antibullying-law-should-be-a-model-for-other-states/

Friedman, M. (2011, Jan. 6). Governor Christie signs 'Anti-Bullying Bill of Right.' Retrieved Sept. 2011 from NJ.Com at http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/gov_christie_signs_anti-bullyi.html

Langholt, A. Dealing with online bullying. Retrieved Sept. 2011 from Life123 at http://www.life123.com/parenting/tweens-teens/bullying/online-bullying.shtml

Littler, C. (2011, Feb). 8 Infamous cases of cyber-bullying. Retrieved from Koldcast Blog at http://blog.koldcast.tv/2011/koldcast-news/8-infamous-cases-of-cyber-bullying/

Nuss, J. (2010, Oct. 8). Families Sue Ohio School After Four Bullied Teens Die by their Own Hand. Retrieved Sept. 2011 from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/08/ohio-school-bullied-teens-dead-hand/

Shangkuan Koo, G. (2011, Aug. 21). Bullying can ruin children's lives. Retrieved Sept. 2011 from Philippine Daily Inquirer at http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/45425/bullying-can-ruin-children%e2%80%99s-lives

Today 24News. (2010, July 23). Phoebe Prince's Suicide: Cause of death revealed. Retrieved Sept. 2011 from http://today24news.com/offbeat/phoebe-princes-suicide-cause-of-death-revealed-232219

WiredKids, Inc. Stop Cyberbullying website. Retrieved Sept. 2011 from http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html

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Cyberbullying-What Schools Can Do About It | Purdue Global

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On September 22, 2010, Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University in New Jersey, leaped to his death off of the George Washington Bridge in New York after his roommate secretly videotaped a romantic encounter between Clementi and another man and posted it on the web. (Littler, 2011)

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"Communication should be encouraged and an anonymous avenue to report harassment should be in place at every school." As educators, we should provide this "anonymous avenue" for our students to report the bullying that they may otherwise be too afraid to.
-Christine (Cram) Winder

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NoBullying - Bullying & CyberBullying Resources

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Bullying has become a major problem with some dire consequences over the last decade. With technological advances, bullying has branched out from the school campus and followed children home via social networking sites or text messaging. It is imperative that adults step in and recognize the warning signs of bullying and discuss how to stop bullying so children are free to concentrate on academics, not personal safety. Understanding is the first step to Bullying Prevention.
Different Types of Bullying and Bullying Prevention

Before addressing bullying prevention one must realize that Bullying can take on many different forms, leaving kids victim to constant harassment to which they feel as if there is no escape. Those who bully are usually in a power position and exhibit aggressive behaviors with the intent to belittle or harm others. Some forms of bullying include:

Verbal bullying occurs when children tease or threaten other children. Physical bullying involves hitting, kicking, tripping or breaking of personal possessions. Cyber bullying has increased with the rise of technology and social networking sites. These sites are used to taunt and embarrass victims. Often, rumors or embarrassing photographs are posted for other students to see. Feeling as if one is under constant attack can lead to long-term problems such as low self-esteem, depression, withdrawal, and desperate acts like violence or suicide. therefore, we truly need Bullying Prevention.

Bullying Prevention: Has Bullying Increased Throughout the Years?

The answer is absolutely. The CDC reports that "Current estimates suggest that nearly 30% of American adolescents reported at least moderate bullying experiences as the bully, the victim, or both." Thanks to cell phones and internet social networking sites, it is easier to start and spread bullying. The impact is larger since home is no longer a safe haven for the person being attacked. The outcome is evident in the number of school shootings and suicides reported throughout the last several years.

So what can be done about it? The answer can be found in adults both at home and via staff members in schools. Parents often view bullying as a typical occurrence of childhood. Some parents may encourage children to ignore or even fight back. This sets the child up for feeling helpless and as if they have no one to turn to. Teachers and Principals often fail to recognize the severity of the situation. If the bullying is not witnessed or other children are not willing to come forth and testify, policies often dictate that nothing can be done unless the event is witnessed or physical harm has been done.

Responsibilities and Bullying Prevention

Parents have a responsibility to know what is happening with their children. Parents need to listen and pay attention to what is going on in the lives of their kids. Recognize signs like withdrawal from social activities, defiance or aggression, depression, loss of appetite, and suicidal thoughts or actions, as a sign that something serious is occurring. Parents need to know what type of websites their kids are visiting. They need to review online communications with their peers and make sure that teens are not a member of a site where parents are not allowed to friend or follow. This may seem like an invasion of privacy for your teenager, but explain that it is your job as the parent to ensure their safety and establish rules. Talk to your children about bullying. Encourage them to not be a bystander who allows victimization to continue. Teach them that it is ok to report what they see and hear if it is harmful to another student.

Staff members at school are in a position to stop bullying. Recently, policies have been put in place that adopt a no tolerance rule for kids who bully, whether verbal or physical, but the problem occurs when teenagers do not speak out. Staff can help kids by adding programs in school that teach about bullying and the negative effects. Communication should be encouraged and an anonymous avenue to report harassment should be in place at every school. Every complaint needs to be taken seriously and investigated.

More on Bullying Prevention!

Bullying affects everyone. Students who do the bullying are often those who exhibit delinquent behaviors later in life. They are typically not good academic performers and tend to have a high drop-out rate. Those who are bullied are isolated from social activities and have few companions. The suicide rate is higher amongst those who are being bullied, and so is the likelihood of bringing a weapon to school for protection. Those students who witness the bullying may feel helpless or like a failure for not preventing the incident. Staff and parents who do not recognize a threat, perceived or real, may inadvertently set up a system where kids feel they have little or no support.

The solution is everyone's responsibility. Parents, staff, and adolescents must communicate. Include the students in the effort for prevention of bullying. Talk with kids about concerns, fears, and solutions. Adults may be surprised to find that kids are very knowledgeable about how to prevent and stop the occurrence of bullying. After all, they are the ones who deal with, witness or take part in the victimization of others. Speak with the adolescent or adolescents responsible for the bullying. Find out what is going on at home or at school that may be the reason the student is acting out. A lot of times those who bully feel as if they have no control over their own life or are bullied themselves. Some feel as if bullying is a preemptive attack. It is a "if I am the bully, I cannot be the victim" type of attitude that many students adopt. Some feel as if it will make them popular with other students in power positions if they "pick on" someone else.

How to stop bullying lies in communication with adolescents and the changing of their beliefs and attitudes. Bullying should be discouraged and punished accordingly, and other students should feel comfortable with reporting those who harass others. There should be no negative consequences for those who are victimized or those who speak out and speak up about bullying. This is Bullying Prevention 101 !

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Communication: The Key To Bullying Prevention - NoBullying - Bullying & CyberBullying Resources

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Bullying has become a major problem with some dire consequences over the last decade. With technological advances, bullying has branched out from the school campus and followed children home via social networking sites or text messaging.

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This is an interesting question.  Bullying can really happen anywhere!  But most often bullying occurs where children and teens are unsupervised, including cyberspace.  "Children say the rides on the bus to and from school are often the periods of greatest vulnerability for them. There's only so much supervision that one adult can provide while driving a bus.."
-Kristen Myler

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The places where bullying occurs; where bullying takes place

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What We Should Know About Bullying in Schools

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What We Should Know About Bullying in Schools

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This is a great website article mostly aimed towards administrators, but I think everyone can take something from it. It approaches and discusses the difference between bullying and harassment along with letting the reader know the school responsibilities in actions against bullying.

-Maura Larkin

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Can schools be held legally accountable for student bullying? If so, under what circumstances?

These tough questions have emerged alongside increased awareness of the detrimental effects of bullying. While almost all states have passed new, or strengthened existing, anti-bullying laws, many districts, in the face of rising family legal action concerning bullying, remain unclear regarding legally compliant policies and best practices.

EducationWorld offers the following primer for school leaders concerned about civil liability for bullying and harassment. Schools are encouraged to consult their districts' legal counsel for information and advice regarding applicable state and federal laws.

Bullying vs. harassment

First, it's important to note the difference between bullying and legally defined harassment. While we can all agree that any form of bullying is undesirable in a school setting, harassment occurs only when students are bullied based on personal characteristics that trigger special federal protection-namely gender, race or disability. Bullying that constitutes harassment is specifically prohibited by federal law.

It is therefore harassment-relatedstudent bullying that when left unchecked by school officials, poses the greatest legal risk. In the Leadership Insider article "School Liability for Bullying & Harassment," article authors Seamus Boyce and Andrew Manna explain that if schools face the following five circumstances, they are legally liable for peer harassment:

1. The bullied student is a member of a "protected class" defined under federal civil rights laws-these classes include gender, race and disability. (While his/her sexual orientation would not technically place a student in a protected class, note that in some court cases, students who were bullied for "nonconformity to gender stereotypes" have successfully claimed sex-based harassment.)

2. The peer harassment was based on the students' membership in a protected class (e.g., a student was repeatedly mocked for having a developmental disability).

3. The harassment was severe, pervasive and offensive (this standard takes into account both severity and frequency; if severe, even a one-time incident can qualify).

4. The school (an official with authority to act) had knowledge of the harassment.

5. The school was deliberately indifferent to the harassment.

In addition, even when a school did not have knowledge of student harassment, a plaintiff might claim school negligence under state law (i.e., failing to train staff or supervise students).

Guidance from the federal Office for Civil Rights can help administrators understand their obligations regarding student harassment.

Administrators should also be aware that it's not only the target of bullying or harassment who might bring legal action. In some cases, the student who perpetrated the incident might claim that punishment for, or silencing of, his/her speech constitutes a violation of the First Amendment.

In the Leadership Insider article "Free to Be Mean?" author Karla Schultz reminds us: The U.S. Supreme Court acknowledges that the First Amendment protects even objectionable speech that could constitute legally defined harassment. For example, in some cases, courts have sided with students when their anti-gay speech was punished or prevented by schools.

Educators can further explore the issue of harassment and free speech with this guide: Harassment, Bullying and Free Expression: Guidelines for Free and Safe Public Schools.

So what's a school to do?

Keeping in mind the above five-point "test" concerning school liability for peer harassment, along with the issue of free speech, here are some recommended takeaways for school leaders.

Schools are likely to avoid legal problems if they:

1. Take reports of bullying and harassment seriously, investigate them, promptly enact safety plans for student targets and monitor these plans to ensure effectiveness;

2. Consider whether harassment of students with disabilities may be affecting their right to obtain an appropriate education. If it's a possibility, administrators need to be especially swift and thorough in terms of enacting safety plans.

3. Ensure that every aspect of the harassment situation-from the initial report to the investigation to the administrator response-is well documented;

4. Implement (and document implementation of) evidence-based bullying prevention strategies such as training of all teaching and non-teaching staff;

5. Train students (who are more likely than adults to directly witness bullying) to serve as teachers' and administrators' supplemental "eyes and ears;" and

6. Work hard to create a school climate incompatible with bullying, so that everyone in the building takes notice and knows what to do when bullying occurs.

Where free speech is concerned:

1. Examine your school and district's anti-bullying policy closely-could it be considered overzealous in terms of its prohibitions, to the point of infringing upon free speech?

2. When a student directs objectionable speech against one or more targeted students, determine which of these categories best describes the speech: (1) speech was obscene, threatening, drug-promoting, etc. or (2) the offensiveness of the speech was more debatable. Your decision to discipline a student has greater legal backing in terms of the first kind of speech (especially when the speech was facilitated by school equipment or was part of a school assignment). You will, however, want to discipline with greater caution when the offensiveness of student speech is more subjective, when the speech occurs off-campus (including online), and/or when the speech consists of a message appearing on (or implied by) student clothing or accessories.

(Don't miss the EducationWorld lesson Student Clothing and the First Amendment. Also, for more information on cyber-bullying, see Cyber-Bullying and the Law: What Should School Leaders Know?)

3. Avoid unreasonably harsh discipline of students who have perpetrated incidents, and ensure that what's being punished or halted is the disruption or harm to the school community, rather than the student's speech per se.

4. Remembering that discipline, by itself, does little to stop bullying, put more energy into re-educating, helping develop empathy for the target and providing constructive outlets for the bullying student to experience mastery/control and gain social status. Concerned that the target will want to see harsh punishment for the bullying student? If you make it clear that you're working to prevent future bullying and harassment, this will ultimately be more satisfying to the target.

For more detailed information about best practices for bullying prevention and response, see the EducationWorld article Join the Discussion on Bullying. You may also want to explore our anti-bullying lessons and articles page.

Article by Celine Provini, EducationWorld Editor
Education World®
Copyright © 2013 Education World

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Bullying and Liability: What Schools Should Know | Education World

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Can schools be held legally accountable for student bullying? If so, under what circumstances? These tough questions have emerged alongside increased awareness of the detrimental effects of bullying. While almost all states have passed new, or strengthened existing, anti-bullying laws, many districts, in the face of rising family legal action concerning bullying, remain unclear regarding legally compliant policies and best practices.

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-Katy Pilch

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What anyone can do to help prevent bullying.

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-Katy Pilch

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Parents, school staff, and other adults can help prevent bullying.

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As teachers, how do you go about bullying?

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As teachers, how do you go about bullying?

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The kids need to feel safe and comfortable in the classroom environment you put them in. This will help them learn more, while focusing more on the topics. If you do see bullying you need to stop it on the spot, therefore everyone around will know this is not an acceptable behavior. While dealing with the children, you need to support all of the kids involved no matter how mad you may be. Teachers need to stay positive for their students, so they will have trust in them.
-Jackson Kunz

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It solves their social problems. After all, it’s easier to bully somebody than to work things out,and learn to solve problems. Bullying is the proverbial “easy way out". Kids use bullying primarily to replace the social skills they’re supposed to develop in grade school, middle school and high school. As children go through their developmental stages, they should be finding ways of working problems out and getting along with other people.
-Katy Pilch

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Bullies are getting smarter as the years go on and it's not as blatant as it was in the past. Kids will make snide comments, will harass others with unwelcome attention and some will even do it off school grounds ie following them out of school or by cyberbullying. Some kids enjoy the fact of hurting others feelings, whereas others don't think twice about their actions, for the sake of being "cool" in front of their peers.
- Asha Stapley

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I AM HOLLY - An Anti-Bullying Film by Bedford High School

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How can we stop bullying within our schools?

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How can we stop bullying within our schools?

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I believe the #1 thing with bullying is to be AWARE. I think that it can be stopped before it is even started. Teachers have the obligation to be in tune to their students and the issues they are facing.  I also think that a zero tolerance policy should be put in place with schools and bullying.
-Brandy Davenport

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How can we educate children about the harm of bullying? 

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How can we educate children about the harm of bullying? 

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I think it would be a good idea to have someone who was bullied in school to come in and talk to the kids about bullying and how serious it can be.  Then they can hear it from someone who has experienced it first hand. In our day we also have to deal with cyber bullying. There are so many ways teachers can educate children about the harm of bullying. Cyber, and first hand.
-Nicole Palmer