Seven Hills Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan Student Version

Seven Hills Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan Student Version:

Why do we have this plan? Because we are committed to ensuring all of our students come to school every day ready to learn. We expect that all students treat each other with dignity and respect. Every person should be valued for their differences and has the right to come through these doors and feel safe and comfortable. We will not tolerate a violation of anyone’s rights, bullying, harassment, or retaliation against anyone who reports any of these violations.

Some definitions to get started:

Aggressor: any person who engages in bullying, cyberbullying, relational aggression, civil rights violation, harassment, or retaliation. Some students call this person the “bully.”

Target:is a student against whom bullying, cyberbullying, or retaliation is perpetrated (victim).

Bystander: the person who witnesses the bullying. Has a decision to make (to act or not, to report?) The bystander has THE MOST important role in a bullying situation.

Question to consider: Why does the bystander have the MOST crucial role in a bullying situation?

Bullying by law is defined as:

Bullying: As defined by M.G.L. c. 71, § 370, is the repeated use by one or more students or by a member of school staff including, but not limited to, an educator, administrator, school nurse, cafeteria worker, custodian, bus driver, athletic coach, advisor to an extracurricular activity, or paraprofessional of a written, verbal, or electronic expression, or a physical act or gesture or any combination thereof, directed at a target that:

(i)Causes emotional or physical harm to the target or damages the target’s property;

(ii)Places the target in reasonable fear of harm to himself/herself or of damage to his or her property

(iii)Creates a hostile environment at school for the target;

(iv)Infringes on the rights of the target at school; or

(v)Materially and substantially disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a school.

Some of the behaviors we see at school might look/feel/sound like:

• Teasing
• Name calling
• Exclusion (purposely leaving someone out, or not letting them join you/sit with you)
• Gossip/Rumors
• Sucking teeth/eye rolling/sighing loudly/dirty looks/whispering about someone to make them feel uncomfortable (create a hostile environment for them)
• Hitting/punching/kicking/pinching/spitting/tripping
• Stealing/vandalizing property
• Threats/intimidation
• Cliques
• Retaliation

Retaliation:is any form of intimidation, reprisal (revenge) or harassment directed against a student who reports bullying, provides information during an investigation of bullying, or witnesses or has reliable information about bullying.

Question to consider: Why are acts of retaliation, in some cases, even worse than some of the bullying behaviors mentioned above?

So….It is against the law to try to get back at someone who reports you, or anyone else for bullying. THEY are doing what is right, YOU are not. You do not ever have the right to create an uncomfortable environment for another student. So we will do what is necessary to protect them and YOU will receive some pretty harsh consequences! You may not call them a snitch, you may not isolate or exclude them, you may not make any threats, or rumors about them, or get any of your friends to do the same!

Here are some Non-examples of bullying. These are things that can often be MISTAKEN for bullying behaviors but are NOT actually bullying:

• Cutting in line (it’s not nice, it’s against school rules, but it’s not bullying)
• Saying “Shut Up” (There are nicer ways to ask someone to ‘Be Quiet’ or ‘Please stop’)
• Having an argument/fight/conflict back and forth. If you both engage in the argument, and say mean things, you are both at fault, no matter who started it.
• Annoying behavior/rude/bossy/obnoxious/mean: Guess what? We ALL have annoying behavior! Sometime in our life someone will find something we do, annoying or obnoxious, or rude. It is NOT your job to point out someone else’s flaws or tell them that “they are annoying”! You can let the person know you don’t like the behavior, or ask them to stop the behavior, but you CANNOT call that person names or report the person for having a behavior you don’t enjoy.
• Bumping into someone accidentally

Here’s the thing about bullying…. The MINUTE you make someone feel unsafe or uncomfortable, your behavior has created, a HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT for them and that is against the law.

EVEN if your intent was not to bully them, IT DOES NOT MATTER. What matters is how they feel. If you have shown a pattern of behaviors, or a behavior that was severe enough to make them feel like you have created a hostile environment for them at school, you have broken the law and WE MUST TAKE ACTION!

Cyberbullying by law is defined as:

Cyberbullying: As defined by M.G.L. c. 71, § 370, is bullying through the use of technology or any electronic communication, which shall include, but not limited to, any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo electronic or photo optical system, including, but not limited to electronic mail, internet communications, instant messages or facsimile communications. Cyberbullying shall also include:

(i)The creation of a web page or blog in which the creator assumes the identity of another person

(ii)The knowing impersonation of another person as the author of posted content or messages, if the content, creation, or impersonation creates any of the conditions in clauses (i) to (v) listed above in the definition of bullying.

Cyberbullying shall also include the distribution by any electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of material on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons, if the distribution or posting creates any of the conditions in clauses (i) to (v) listed in the above definition of bullying.

We know cyberbullying looks/feels/sounds like:

• Hacking into someone’s page
• Pretending to be someone else online (identity theft/fraud)
• Posting peoples personal information and thoughts for everyone to read
• Saying rude things to a person (name calling/swearing) over DM, IM, text, VM, social media, etc.
• Inciting others to join in the teasing/taunting/name calling/etc. online
• Taking/sending/posting inappropriate pictures or videos (of yourself or anyone else!)
• Photo shopping, using filters, or otherwise altering someone’s picture to demean/degrade/humiliate them and posting it
• Polling/rating peoples looks/bodies, who’s tougher, etc…
• sexting

Cyberbullying, even when done on your home computer, creates a hostile environment here at school for everyone that reads, posts, or is a target of what you send! Therefore, by law is our responsibility to follow up on and act upon. We will have you access your pages from school, print them, and contact your parents, and possibly the police. Remember, once you hit that send button, YOU DON’T OWN THOSE WORDS ANYMORE! (or those pictures/videos)

Here is a good rule of thumb for you to use: Don’t put anything on the internet that you don’t want these people to see: (Remember the 7 P’s)

• Parents
• Principals
• Professors
• Prospective employers
• Preacher
• Police
• Predators

Harassment: consists of unwelcome verbal, written or physical conduct targeting specific person(s) which is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive to create an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, or offensive school environment, or substantially interfere with the progress of a student’s education.

Harassment CAN be a one-time behavior. Civil Rights Violations fall into the harassment category, as does Sexual Harassment.

Sexual Harassment: Is any unwanted or unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature. It can be verbal, visual or physical. This can happen just once.

• Physical Sexual Harassment is any unwelcome contact: bumping, touching (anywhere on the body not just a private area), hugging, kissing, pinching. Basically it is intruding on another’s personal space.
• Visual Sexual Harassment is any unwelcome exposure to explicit photos, drawings, cartoons, graffiti, notes, ratings/polls, gestures
• Verbal sexual Harassment is any unwelcome spoken words or sounds directed toward another person. Examples would be suggestive comments, inappropriate jokes, commenting about a person’s body, whistles, asking a person out repeatedly or talking about people’s relationships in an inappropriate way, calling someone “gay” or other homosexual reference, or spreading rumors about someone’s sexuality or gender identity.

Remember: THE MINUTE you make another person feel uncomfortable with what you say, you run the risk of being accused of sexual harassment! So if you’re not sure if you should say it or not: DON’T.

Let’s Talk Civil Rights:

Civil Rights Violations or Discriminatory Harassment (what it is legally referred to at times): involve any acts directed at a target that cause emotional or physical harm, due to a person’s protected category under constitutional or statutory rights (actual or perceived race, skin color, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, housing status, or socioeconomic status). Rights protected against interference include non-discrimination in access to advantages and privileges of a public school education. The term “civil rights violation” also covers bias-related and sexual harassment and bias crimes, so the term is applied generically to any civil or criminal law infractions.

Q?:What in the world does that mean?

It means that all of us, every single person in the US falls under some protected category. We identify as a gender, we may practice a religion, we all have an ethnicity, we all have a skin color. Maybe we have a disability, maybe we are smarter in one area than another. The point is, we are all protected by what are called CIVIL RIGHTS. That means, you may NOT: point out, make fun of, target, or discriminate (in any way shape or form) against a student who is a different race than you, a different color than you, a different gender than you, a different religion than you, a different sexual orientation than you, has a disability, or may not have a home. If you do, you have broken the law.

Let’s talk about Gender identity for a minute… What is this exactly?

So, MA passed another law in July 2012 called: An ‘Act relative to Gender Identity’ in which students who are born one gender, but wish to identify themselves as another gender are protected in a school setting. They are also allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as and legally change their records to reflect their identity. Why do you think this law is important and necessary?

Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

Just because a person identifies as the opposite sex, it does not necessarily mean that they are homosexual (gay). They may be, or not. It just means that they are more comfortable identifying as the other sex. (It is about who you are, not who you like) We must accept them as the gender they identify as and respect personal boundaries. We must attempt to have empathy for the many emotions and feelings they may go through as a student during their transition and beyond. Discrimination against these students is never acceptable as any other protected category.

Transgender: umbrella term used to describe a person whose gender identity or gender expression is different from that traditionally associated with the assigned sex at birth.

Gender expression: the manner in which a person represents or expresses gender to others, often through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, activities, voice, or mannerisms.

Ok, so we’ve been talking about a HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT, what is that?

According to the law, it is:

Hostile Environment: As defined by M.G.L. c. 71, § 370, a hostile environment is created when bullying causes the school environment to be permeated with intimidation, ridicule or insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the student’s education.

What it means is that something you have done has created an atmosphere here at school that is unsafe and uncomfortable for another student(s). This is against the law. Therefore, school personnel must take action against you. You are the aggressor, therefore you must be dealt with and the other student must be kept safe.

What does that mean for you?

It depends…

There are many things the school will do in cases where students are accused of bullying. Our first priority is always to keep you safe.

The first thing that happens when we get a report of bullying is an investigation.

The investigation is very thorough and all parties are interviewed (separately) and any witnesses are interviewed as well.

A determination is made based on the evidence.

You should know that not all accusations are determined to be bullying! Many times students, parents, even teachers OVERUSE the term “BULLYING” to describe every instance of mean spirited behavior. Most times, once a thorough investigation takes place, we find that it was a one-time mean moment, or a conflict between both parties.

The code of conduct is followed for consequence determination and/or possibly a disciplinary hearing if bullying or harassment has taken place.

Parents are notified in all bullying and harassment findings.

A report may be filed with the guidance office or with local law enforcement.

You may be required to take extra classes in addition to your guidance classes on bullying/harassment/civil rights/sexual harassment/cyberbullying topics

An apology of action/community service project will be completed

If a determination of mean moments or conflicts have taken place students may be referred for peer mediation, restorative conferencing, processing support with counseling staff, apologies of action, open circle/circle forward discussions may take place or disciplinary actions may be necessary.

?????? What should you do if you feel you are being bullied/harassed ??????

USE THE BULLY ALERT SYSTEM! That is what we created it for! It’s great! You can go online and be as detailed as possible please!!! That way if you choose to report anonymously, we can have as many details to go on for our investigation as possible.

When you hit the ‘submit’ button, Ms. Dirsa and Ms. Poudrier will get an e-mail alert right away on her computer that there is a bully alert that she needs to address! She will start investigating as soon as possible and if it is really serious she will investigate it with Mr. Colorio.

Ms. Dirsa investigates every single alert she gets, IT’S THE LAW!

You can also report it to her, to a teacher, any staff member you trust, your parents, your bus driver, you can write it down and put it in her mailbox or any teacher’s mailbox in the office.

There are also all sorts of strategies you can use if your being bullied, like using humor to diffuse the situation, and being assertive and standing up for yourself, Scripting responses that you want to say (assertive, not aggressive) and role playing them with someone or practicing them in a mirror, you and a buddy making a pact to stick together and stand up for each other, drawing attention to yourself and what’s going on (bullies can be sneaky), never being alone in the halls, etc. But you’ll learn more about those in your guidance classes… Just remember YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO WALK THROUGH THESE HALLS AND FEEL SAFE! If someone else’s behavior is making you uncomfortable, THEY need to be dealt with! It is NOT OK! THEYdon’t have THAT right!

You should know: Studies have shown that in any given bullying situation, the bullying will end within 10 seconds if ANYONE intervenes in ANY WAY.

Student Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan Updated 8/18 Lisa Moore MA, C.A.G.S.