A note on developing your school-wide bullying prevention plan.

This document was created to provide a template for schools to use to provoke discussion about bullying behaviors in their schools andto formulate a plan to begin addressing them. It begins with an introduction that will help staff understand why your school needs to address bullying behaviors and gain their support for doing so.

Adapting the following model will result in a plan that provides a solid foundation for developing and implementing a comprehensive bullying prevention program. Schools who want to take that next step should consider implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, which is the only bullying prevention program in the United States to receive a blueprint rating from the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. Schools that implement the Olweus program typically experience a 30% to 70% reduction in bullying within the first two years of implementation.

To learn more about implementing the Olweus program in your school, contact Randy Wiler at 913-406-1930 or .


Bullying Prevention Implementation Plan

Why is our school developing a plan to redirect bullying behaviors?

  • It is mandated by Kansas law. K.S.A. 72-8256 requires that every school district in Kansas train all staff and students in bullying prevention, develop a district policy on bullying prevention and create a bullying implementation plan by January, 2008.
  • Bullying among children is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength.
  • Bullying can seriously affect the emotional, physical, and academic well-being of children who are bullied. Dealing with discipline problems related to bullying incidents can take a good deal of administrators’ and educators’ time during a school day.
  • Bullying can contribute to a negative climate in schools.
  • Bullying is more prevalent than many adults suspect.
  • Everyone in the school environment will benefit from implementation of an effective bullying prevention program.
  • Before implementing any strategies to address bullying or other violence at school, we will keep in mind that:
  • Effective programs require strong administrative leadership and ongoing commitment on the part of the adults in the school system.
  • Those programs that show the most promise are comprehensive in approach. They involve the entire school community, including families, and can take the forms of school-wide interventions, classroom activities, and individual interventions.
  • Bullying prevention efforts should begin early—as children transition into kindergarten—and continue throughout the children’s education.
  • Effective bullying prevention programs should have no “end date” but should instead become part of the life of your school. Ongoing staff development is important to sustain bullying prevention programs.

Following are steps we will take to develop an effective bullying prevention program in our school.

Our plan to address bullying

Our school will develop policy that addresses bullying.

We will create/revise our school’s bullying prevention policy. To do this, we will:

  1. Review the sample bullying prevention policy provided by the Kansas Bullying Prevention Program to determine if changes to our current harassment policy need to be considered. Because bullying and harassment are different, these behaviors will need to be addressed differently.
  2. We will publish our bullying prevention policy in the next publication of our student handbook.
  3. We will not apply conflict resolution or peer mediation techniques to deal with bullying behaviors because research does not support these methods as being effective in redirecting bullying behaviors.
  4. ______

Our school will develop clear rules and sanctions related to bullying.

We will create bullying prevention rules adapted from the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Our rules for our school are as follows:

  1. We will not bully others.
  2. We will try to help students who are bullied when it is safe to do so.
  3. We will include students who are left out.
  4. We will tell an adult at school and an adult at home when we see someone being bullied.
  5. ______

Sanctions related to bullying behavior will be addressed through a school-wide rubric.

We will create a school-wide rubric to provide clear, consistent, escalating, inevitable, and predictable sanctions to address bullying behaviors. We will utilize information found in the book entitled Schools Where Everyone Belongs by Stan Davis and available at:

Elementary Rubric for Peer-to-Peer Aggression
Behavior / First Time / Second Time / Third Time / Fourth Time
Teasing/
Exclusion / --Verbal Behavior Reminder / --Privilege Loss (2 Days)
--Parent Call
--Reflection / --Classes Only
(3 Days)
--Parent Call
--Reflection
--Office Referral / --Office Referral
--Individual Plan
Physical
Bullying / --Verbal Behavior Reminder
--Privilege Loss (1 Day)
--Parent Call
--Reflection / --Classes Only
(1 Day)
--Parent Call
--Reflection
--Office Referral / Only
(3 Days)
--Parent Call
--Reflection
--Office Referral / --OSS
Individual Re-entry
Plan
Severe Physical Bullying, Threats of Serious Violence / --Office Referral
--Suspension
--Police Contact / --Office Referral
--Suspension
--Police Contact
--Modify Individual Plan with Behavior Support Professionals / --OSS
Re-entry Plan
--PoliceContact

*Harassment will be handled per school board policy.

Explanation of Consequences (For use by teachers)

Verbal Behavior Reminder / Teacher clearly explains appropriate behavior expectations and gives examples of what to do differently next time.
Privilege Loss / As a consequence for aggressive behavior, student loses a privilege (as determined by pod teams at beginning of bullying program).
Parent Call / With principal or teacher present, student calls parent and explains his or her involvement in the incident using “I” language (student says what he or she did without using “because,” “just,” or “only”) and explains what the consequences are for the behavior.
Reflection / With teacher, mental health professional, or other designated staff member, student fills out a behavior reflection during the time of lost privilege, if possible. See reflection sheet. The student must complete the sheet using “I” language to describe specifically for what behavior the student received the consequence.
Office Referral / Student is sent to the office; consequences will be administered by principal.
Individual Plan / Student, parents, teacher(s), principal, and other staff members, as needed, meet to create an individual behavior plan (which could be a SIT plan, point sheet, etc., as determined by team) that outlines clear consequences for further incidents of peer-to-peer aggression.
Modify Individual Plan with Behavior Support Professionals / The plan created as above will be modified, with help from behavior support professionals in the building and, possibly, from the district.
Classes Only / Student attends only academic classes and art, music, or PE, but does not take part in any special or extra activities (recess, parties, games, field trips, rewards, book buddies, etc). "Classes only" also includes a silent lunch in location determined by teacher.
Suspension / In-school or out-of-school suspension as determined by principal and in concurrence with district policy.
Police Contact / Pursuant to K.S.A. 72-89b03 and district policy, if the student has broken the law, the principal must notify the police.

DEFINITIONS:

Teasing – name-calling, insulting, or other behavior that would hurt others’ feelings or make them feel bad about themselves

Exclusion – starting rumors, telling others not to be friends with someone, or other actions that would cause someone to be without friends

Physical Bullying – pushing, slapping, grabbing, flicking, poking, pinching, tripping, or other violations of personal space

Severe Physical Bullying – punching, kicking, and similar behavior that could result in injury to others

Threat of serious violence – threats of using a weapon, or other conduct which should be immediately reported to police

Harassment – racial, ethnic, or sexual name-calling or other severe harassment

Middle School and High School Rubric

Behavior / First Time / Second Time / Third Time
Teasing / Written warning. Student calls parent/guardian. / Private dining in the lunch room at a designated table with supervisor. Student calls parent/guardian. / One week private dining in the lunch room at a designated table with supervisor. Student calls parent/guardian. / Referral to ISS room to develop individual plan with parent/guardian.
Exclusion / Written warning. Student calls parent/guardian. / Private dining in the lunch room at a designated table with supervisor. Student calls parent/guardian. / One week private dining in the lunch room at a designated table with supervisor. Student calls parent/guardian. / Referral to ISS room to develop individual plan with parent/guardian.
Physical Bullying / One day ISS. Think sheet completed. Student calls parent/guardian. / Three days ISS. Think sheet and Behavior Contract completed. Student calls parent/guardian. / Immediately referred to office. Out of school suspension. Re-entry meeting with parent/guardian and student. / Individual Plan of Action created by principal, student and parent/guardian.
Severe Physical Bullying, threats of serious violence / Immediately referred to the office. Police and parent/guardian notified. Immediate suspension per policy. / Immediately referred to the office. Police and parent/guardian notified. Immediate suspension per policy. / Immediately referred to the office. Police and parent/guardian notified. Immediate suspension per policy. / Immediately referred to the office. Police and parent/guardian notified. Immediate suspension per policy.

*Harassment will be handled per school board policy.

Our school will develop strategies to reward students for positive, inclusive behaviors.

We recognize that a majority of our students do not bully others. To preserve the empathy that most students have toward others who are bullied, we will create a positive reward system to encourage bystanders to intervene on behalf of children who are being bullied. We recognize that if we reward positive behavior with positive consequences, that desired behavior will be repeated. This will be accomplished by:

  1. Encouraging good citizenship. Teachers will be asked to maintain an atmosphere in the classroom that fosters good citizenship.
  2. Creating anonymous school safety reporting systems. Such systems could incorporate:
  3. Utilizing classroom meetings in which students are encouraged to meet privately with the teacher to report concerns about bullying.
  4. Encouraging students to send an e-mail to their teacher.
  5. Creating a voice mailbox extension 911 that can be used to leave a message reporting any school safety concern.
  6. ______
  7. Creating a ticket system or other drawing for privileges or prizes to be awarded to students who demonstrate outstanding characteristics of good citizenship.
  8. Funding for prizes could be obtained by placing collection jars entitled “Change for Change” in each classroom and common areas. The contributions from these collection jars will be used to provide prizes for the positive award system.
  9. ______

Assess bullying at our school and determine our staff’s commitment to address bullying.

We will accomplish this step by:

  1. Forming a bullying prevention coordinating committee (a small group of energetic teachers, students, administrators, counselors, non-teaching staff, and parents) to explore the problem of bullying and devise possible solutionsat our school. Our committee members are:

Administrator:______

K teacher representative:______

1st teacher representative:______

2nd teacher representative:______

3rd teacher representative:______

4th teacher representative:______

5th teacher representative:______

6th teacher representative:______

7th teacher representative:______

8th teacher representative:______

9th teacher representative:______

10th teacher representative:______

11th teacher representative:______

12th teacher representative:______

Paraprofessional/Non-certified: representative:______

School counselor representative:______

Parent representative:______

Our first meeting will be held on:______. Subsequent meetings will be held monthly and will last approximately one hour. Those meeting dates are:

Date:______Time______Date______Time______

Date______Time______Date______Time______

  1. We will administer an anonymous student questionnaire (grades three and higher) to assess the nature, extent, and location of bullying problems in our school. This will be accomplished by using the Olweus Bullying prevention survey available at another survey that is to be developed.
  2. In addition, we will begin to collect data that can be used to identify bullying behaviors such as:
  3. Auditing the number of office referrals concerning bullying behaviors
  4. Tracking absenteeism and tardiness to classes
  5. Monitoring the number of absences due to health concerns
  6. ______
  7. We will talk with our staff members about their perceptions of bullying at our school. We will determine their current efforts to address bullying and their time and motivation to implement a bullying prevention program.
  8. We will use the resulting data from the questionnaire to determine the hot spots where bullying occurs and assign appropriate supervision to minimize the opportunity for bullying to occur there.
  9. Hot Spot #1Action to minimize opportunity

______

  1. Hot Spot #2Action to minimize opportunity

______

  1. Hot Spot #3Action to minimize opportunity

______

  1. Hot Spot #4Action to minimize opportunity

______

Raise awareness about bullying at our school and determine our staff’s and our parent’s commitment to address bullying.

To raise awareness about our school’s bullying implementation plan, we will:

  1. Hold an open house or a PTA/PTO meeting to solicit parent feedback about bullying and bullying prevention needs at our school on:______
  2. We will notify parents of bullying incidents involving their child(ren) as indicated in the bullying rubric.
  3. We will notify parents of children who are victims of bullying or of peer-to-peer aggression.
  4. With the help of our coordinating committee, we will research existing bullying prevention programs that our school might adopt.
  5. Talk with colleagues in other schools who have implemented bullying prevention programs and can share their experiences.
  6. We will incorporate the supplemental bullying prevention lessons found in the DARE program.
  7. ______
  1. ______

Provide staff awareness training about bullying behaviors.

We will provide in-service training for our staff so they can learn about bullying behaviors and what steps to take to redirect it. This will be accomplished by:

  1. Provide a half-day to a full day of staff training on bullying prevention on this date:______.
  2. In lieu of providing staff in-service training, we will require our school staff, both certified and non-certified, to complete the free online bullying prevention course made available by the Kansas Bullying Prevention Program at
  3. Staff will print out course quizzes from each module.
  4. Staff will print out the course completion certificate after completing the online training course.
  5. Staff will provide a copy of all course quiz documents and course certificate to their building principal.
  6. ______

Our school will institute weekly class meetings toaddress bullying behaviors.

Bullying prevention research indicates that if bullying behaviors are to be reduced, students must feel connected at school. Statistically, students stop reporting bullying behaviors to teachers by fourth grade. In order to reconnect students to staff, we will:

  1. Create an atmosphere that fosters connections among students and staff members through classroom meetings.
  2. Class meetings should be held weekly for a minimum of 20 minutes.
  3. We will utilize the Quit-It program for K-3 class meetings and other resources, such as Empowering Bystanders by Stan Davis. (These and other materials are available at
  4. ______
  1. ______
  1. ______

Our school will develop a tracking system for bullying behaviors.

We will adapt our current school discipline system to begin tracking bullying behavior referrals. If it is not possible to adapt the current system to track bullying behavior:

  1. We will examine the SCHOOL COP software system for tracking bullying behaviors. This software is free and can be downloaded from:
  2. We will consider having staff members keep a daily reporting log to document bullying incidents. For example, an elementary class log may be kept on a clipboard that accompanies the class wherever it goes so the teacher for that time period can record incidents and the students involved. More information on using this tracking system is available by contacting Randy Wiler at .
  3. We will develop BUS REFERRAL forms that contain reporting areas for bullying behaviors.
  4. ______
  5. ______
  6. ______
  7. ______
  8. ______

NOTES:
Bullying Prevention Implementation Plan Checklist

Does your bullying prevention implementation plan include all the following elements?

Focus on the whole school environment?

Assess bullying at your school through some type of questionnaire or assessment tool?

Garner staff/parent support?

Form a group at school to coordinate bullying prevention/ intervention activities?

 Provide training for ALL staff members?

 Establish and enforce school rules and policies regarding bullying?

 Increase adult supervision in “hot spots” for bullying?

 Intervene consistently and appropriately in bullying incidents?

 Focus some classroom time on bullying prevention and intervention?

 Continue efforts over time?

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