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As a future school counselor it will be important to create and maintain comprehensive programs for combating bullying among students. One key aspect for this will be maintaining the professional role of the school counselor and ensuring that they aren’t being stretched into non-counseling duties that will lead to burnout. I chose this topic because bullying is an issue with huge ramifications for all parties involved and it is imperative that school counselors are available to give this issue the attention it needs. The intended audience for this ethical guide is school counselors, campus administrators, and stakeholders at public school districts.

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The Texas Education Agency, or TEA, is the state governing agency for all aspects of public education in the state. This includes ensuring public school districts have set guidelines for bullying and prevention. Local law enforcement agencies, school districts, and campus administrators are also responsible at the basic local level for upholding the requirements of David's Law. (Coordinated School Health)

References

Coordinated School Health Division. (n.d.). Bullying and Cyberbullying. Texas Education Agency.

https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/coordinated-school-health/coordinated-school-health-bullying-and-cyberbullying

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U.S. Constitutional Law- The U.S. Department of Education and The U.S. Department of Justice both have laws in place that protect student’s civil rights including: Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Titles II and III of the American Disabilities Act, and others (20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688). These laws protect students from being bullied on the basis of sex, race, or disabilities. It also protects aspiring school counselors from being discriminated against because of these reasons.

Texas Constitutional Law- Every person shall be at liberty to speak, write or publish his opinions on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that privilege; and no law shall ever be passed curtailing the liberty of speech or of the press.
(Tex. Const. art. 1 § 8)

References

Tex. Const. art. 1 § 8

20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688.

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Federal Administrative Law- The Department of Education was established to provide federal guidelines and funding for certain programs and public schools of all levels. It is important that schools follow the Department of Education’s guidelines specifically regarding bullying and harassment. If schools do not adhere to their regulations funding can be pulled (The Department of Education Organization Act, 1979).

State Statute- The Texas Sunset Act sets an expiration date for state agencies. The goal is to ensure that the agencies are running efficiently and must be renewed after so many years. This means that the Texas Education Agency must be renewed and the government must ensure that it is running effectively. This has an impact on all students, employees, and stakeholders for public education in Texas because TEA is our governing body (Texas Sunset Act. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 479, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985).

References

The Department of Education Organization Act, 1979

Texas Sunset Act. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 479, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985

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David’s Law prohibits bullying, prohibits retaliation of reporting bullying incidents, requires districts to provide means for anonymous reporting, requires notification of parents/guardians, and increases criminal punishment of those found guilty of bullying in certain circumstances (SB 179). This law lays out for all school personnel and staff how to handle reports of bullying and what actions to take.

References

SB 179

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The Texas Education Code section 37.0832 works to clearly define bullying, and lay out the requirements for districts to adhere to if bullying does occur amongst students. This has a great impact on bullying because it shows what must be done to prevent and combat it. This regulation does also have an impact on the school counselor shortage because it lays out a great deal of responsibilities that will need to be taken on by the district school counselor’s. If a district is experiencing a school counselor shortage these regulations can be an even greater load on the counselors that are there and potentially lead to burnout.

References

Tex. Educ. Code § 37.0832

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According to the Hawkins ISD school board policy there is a strict zero tolerance for bullying, harassment, and retaliation by any students or staff. This policy lays out the method for reporting these incidents, the investigation process, possible criminal investigation, and courses of action. The purpose of this policy is for the district to lay out their plan of action for combatting bullying and sexual harassment. The district will follow this preconstructed plan if an incident does occur. This policy impacts the topic of bullying because it is a course of action designed to handle this type of situation. It also impacts the topic of school counselor shortage because this district policy delegates crucial roles to the campus school counselor to uphold this policy. If there is a shortage on the campus that may lead to the role not being filled as well as it should, or not being filled at all. This can cause the plan of action to fall apart and be unsuccessful (Hawkins, 2022).

References

Hawkins ISD School Board. (2022, June 15). Freedom of Bullying, Discrimination, Retaliation, and Harrassment. Board Policy Manual. https://policyonline.tasb.org/PolicyOnline/PolicyDetails?key=1263&code=FFH#legalTabContent

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In terms of bullying there is a significant potential for legal liability, specifically in the state of Texas because of David’s Law and the extra requirements it places on school districts in regards to handling bullying incidents. There is also an ethical obligation for teachers to protect students and their learning environments. Bullying is something that actively harms a student’s learning environment. A school must protect student confidentiality when handling reports of bullying. If a district is found to be negligent in handling reports of bullying and/or protecting victims’ confidentiality there may be a potential for legal liability (Texas, 2023) .

References

Texas Anti-Bullying Laws and Policies. (2023, May 17). Stop Bullying. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws/texas

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The Texas Education Code of Ethics requires that all staff, teachers and school counselors, receive professional development and training on a myriad of topics to protect students and the learning environment. This includes yearly training on bullying for all teachers and school counselors. This ensures that staff is up to date on laws and regulations for bullying. This helps to combat bullying across the state and helps to ensure that the school counselors at districts are adequately trained to handle reports of bullying (Tex. Educ.Code §21.451).

References

Tex. Educ. Code §21.451

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This assignment was extremely enlightening for me as both a current teacher and future school counselor. The one thing that I learned the most about is how intricate the balance of protecting bullying victims and helping the aggressors as well. The educator code of ethics requires staff to help both no matter what. This leads into my biggest takeaway from this assignment, which is that at the end of the day they are all kids and are looking for guidance. They all need us. One area that I would like to explore more is the ethical decision making process for school counselors specifically. I am just curious if there would be one that works best for all school counselors, or if it is best determined by the situation.

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School districts should provide all staff with yearly professional development training on bullying and preventative strategies.

Districts should create a comprehensive bullying policy including the input of stakeholders including administrators, teachers, staff, parents, school board members, and community members.

The district should reflect on the bullying policy at the end of each school year to determine what, if any, changes need to be made to the policy.

The district should post this policy on the school website and share it with students and their families.

District administrators must ensure that there is an anonymous reporting capability for bullying and all other stipulations outlined in David's law are being followed by the district.

School district attorneys should review all aspects of the district's comprehensive plan to ensure that the district is in compliance with state laws, TEA mandates, federal laws, and mandates set by the United States Department of Education.