Washoe Country School District
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Bullying / Prevention Tips
From the Desk of Kevin Jennings, U.S. Department of Education
As is the case for most of those reading this message, I have been horrified by the recent media coverage of student suicides prompted by bullying. I am fortunate to have a boss who is just as horrified and today made the below statement.
I hope each of you will consider ways you can help bring bullying to an end and urge you to check out www.bullyinginfo.org for useful resources in so doing.
Bullying Prevention Tips:
From the Desk of Kevin Jennings, U.S. Department of Education
As is the case for most of those reading this message, I have been horrified by the recent media coverage of student suicides prompted by bullying. I am fortunate to have a boss who is just as horrified and today made the below statement.
I hope each of you will consider ways you can help bring bullying to an end and urge you to check out www.bullyinginfo.org for useful resources in so doing.
Children Who Bully
Responses to Bullying
Tips for Parents
How to Intervene at School
Misdirection in Bullying Interventions
State Laws Related to Bullying<
Warning Signs of Bullying
What you should do if you are bullied
What we know about bullying
Intervention tips for law enforcement
The Scope and Impact of bullying
Advice from "Tween" experts
Involvement for law enforcement
Sample Newsletter for Bullying
Steps to addess bullying in your school
Roles for health and safety professionals
What students can do
Bullying Tip #18 in pdf
Research Based Articles
Documenting Bullying for Administrators
Cyber Bullying Fact Sheet
MySpace Bullying
Cyber Bullying Legal Issues
Cyber Bullying Warning Signs
Remember that Bullying is characterized by aggressive behavior or intentional harm doing that is repeatedly carried out overtime. The imbalance of power (real or perceived is a factor).
Current Laws on Bullying:
Tips for students:
1. If bullied, tell your parents, teachers and/or school administrators. Telling is NOT tattling if you feel hurt or scared. It is reporting.
2. Do not retaliate or get even
3. Respond evenly without losing your temper and in a firm voice or say nothing and get away.
4. Stand by each other. If you watch, laugh, or ignore, you are part of the problem. It is your school !!!!
5. Act Confident
6. Be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are
7. Avoid unsupervised areas
8. Do not bring expensive items to school
Tips for schools:
- Establish a Bully prevention committee and include counselors, teachers, parents, students and administration
- Create a plan to handle student concerns and reporting
- Teach tips for dealing with bullying and resolving conflicts to ALL your students
- Establish classroom and school rules against bullying
- Establish positive and negative consequences that you enforce for everyone
- Get bystanders motivated to help by reporting safely and confidentially, befriending or understanding victims, listening to each other and understanding how to deal with conflicts and emotions appropriately. Friends showing bullying behaviors can usually be stopped by their own friends too.
- Facilitate the development of trusting relationships between each student and at least one adult. RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY!!!
Checkout the following sites:
- http://www.colorado.edu/
- http://www.bullying.org
- http://www.mentalhealth.org
- http://www.schoolsecurity.org
Adapted from Dan Olweus "Blueprints for Violence Prevention" and materials from "Get Real About Violence" both at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSVP) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) web and resources.
The new Bullying, Cyber-bullying, Harassment and Intimidation laws go into effect July 1, 2010. Here are the breakdowns:
NRS 388.122 "Bullying" defined. [Effective July 1, 2010.] "Bullying" means a willful act or course of conduct on the part of one or more pupils which is not authorized by law and which exposes a pupil repeatedly and over time to one or more negative actions which is highly offensive to a reasonable person and is intended to cause and actually causes the pupil to suffer harm or serious emotional distress.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 687, effective July 1, 2010)
NRS 388.123 "Cyber-bullying" defined. [Effective July 1, 2010.] "Cyber-bullying" means bullying through the use of electronic communication.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 687, effective July 1, 2010)
NRS 388.124 "Electronic communication" defined. [Effective July 1, 2010.] "Electronic communication" means the communication of any written, verbal or pictorial information through the use of an electronic device, including, without limitation, a telephone, a cellular phone, a computer or any similar means of communication.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 687, effective July 1, 2010)
NRS 388.125 "Harassment" defined. "Harassment" means a willful act or course of conduct that is not otherwise authorized by law and is:
1. Highly offensive to a reasonable person; and
2. Intended to cause and actually causes another person to suffer serious emotional distress.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 1928)
NRS 388.129 "Intimidation" defined. "Intimidation" means a willful act or course of conduct that is not otherwise authorized by law and:
1. Is highly offensive to a reasonable person; and
2. Poses a threat of immediate harm or actually inflicts harm to another person or to the property of another person.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 1928)
NRS 388.135 Bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment and intimidation prohibited. [Effective July 1, 2010.] A member of the board of trustees of a school district, any employee of the board of trustees, including, without limitation, an administrator, principal, teacher or other staff member, or any pupil shall not engage in bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment or intimidation on the premises of any public school, at an activity sponsored by a public school or on any school bus.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 1929; A 2009, 688, effective July 1, 2010)
