Bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Make It Stop! Willis Pooling Practice

Bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Make It Stop! Willis Pooling Practice

Learning Objectives: Learn the potential financial and emotional impact to your students, staff, community and schools if bullying is not stopped Understand the steps to a successful program and why risk managers need to be involved Review current case law and state regulations requiring districts to be proactive in this area.

Statistics And The Survey Says! Source: Kaiser Family Foundation Talking With Kids About Tough Issues

Percentage of children who say the following is a big problem for people their age in school Age 8 11 Age 12-15 Teasing and bullying 55 68 Discrimination 41 63 Violence 46 62 Alcohol or drugs 44 68 Pressure to have sex 33 49

Percentage of children who say kids at their schools.. Age 8-11 Age 12-15 Get teased or bullied 74 86 Have boyfriends/girlfriends 68 97 Are treated badly because they re different Are threatened with violence 43 67 38 60 Smoke cigarettes 10 67

Let s Talk About Why It Must STOP: 1. It hurts Today Tomorrow Forever 2. It s wrong For the bully, for the victim, for the community 3. It s contagious and grows In the school house, out side the school, at home and the community

4. It interferes with the learning process and last, but not least: IT CAN COST $ $ $ $ $ s: Tort Claims Medical Expenses Lost days at work

I Hate My Life By Sarah I have always been bullied. I don t know why or anything, but it s something I thought would go away but it didn t and I often think that I m going to completely crack. I do have friends and they are the bestis friends that you could possibly ask for but it doesn t make you feel any better!

I told the school cause it s really bad now but they haven t done anything about it and I now suffer from tension headaches because of it. I have exams this year and I don t want it to get in the way but it probably will and that really ********** me off!* Taken from the pages of www.bullying.org

Staggering Thoughts: 10 percent of students who drop out of school do so because of repeated bullying (Weinhold & Weinhold, 1998) Bullies identified by age 8 are six times more likely to be convicted of a crime by age 24 and five times more likely than non-bullies to end up with serious criminal records by age 30 (Maine Project Against Bullying, 2000)

And If That Isn t Enough: Roughly two-thirds of school shooters had felt persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked, or injured by others..a number of the teenagers had suffered sustained, severe bullying and harassment (Bowman, 2001)

Bullying Defined Behaviors that constitute bullying form an identifiable constellation of characteristics. These characteristics distinguish bullying from mere disagreement or fighting. Definitions vary among researchers, but there are common areas of agreement on what constitutes bullying

Bullying Harm or hurt is intended A power imbalance exists The perpertrator(s) enjoys carrying out the action The perpetrator's) repeats the behavior, often in a systematic way The victim has a sense of being persecuted or oppressed and is hurt physically or psychologically.

Examples of Bullying Physical Acts Assault with a weapon Grievous bodily harm Seriously threatening to kill or cause harm Serious theft Abuse/Sexual abuse Biting Hair pulling/shoving Hitting/Punching/Scratching Kicking Locking a person in a room Pinching/Grabbing Spitting Damage to victim s property

Examples of Bullying Nonphysical acts Verbal Abusive language Extorting of money or possessions Intimidation/threats Name calling Cruel remarks Spreading false/mean rumors Gender-based put downs Non-Verbal Mean faces Rude gestures Systematically excluding Isolating Sending scary/ intimidating notes Mean gender-based pictures

How Children Become Aggressive: Dr. Dan Olweus, in Norway, did the ground breaking research on bullying from 1975 to the present. He found that: Bullies often come from homes where there is little warmth and adult attention In these homes, adults discipline inconsistently, using emotional outbursts and physical discipline

Additional Facts About Bullying: Both boys and girls bully Bullying by girls is often more subtle and harder to detect it often takes the form of social exclusion Boys tend to bully both boys and girls. Girls are more likely to victimize other girls Girls are more likely to bully in a group Bullying in schools tends to increase through elementary grades, peak in middle school, and drop off by the 11 th and 12 th grades There is little physiological difference between a bully and a sexual harasser.

Districts Must Identify Those Who Are Bullies: Regularly engages in hurtful teasing, name calling or intimidation of others. Believes that he or she is superior to other students, or blame others for being different Frequently fights with others as a way to assert dominance Has little empathy and often derive satisfaction from inflicting injury and suffering, and seem to desire power and control (NRCSS, 1999)

Identifying Children Who Are Being Bullied: Frequently teased in a nasty way, called names, taunted, belittled, ridiculed, intimidated, degraded, threatened, given orders, dominated or subdued Regularly has bruises, torn clothing or injuries that can t be easily explained, or often has his or her belongings taken or damaged Have few or no close friends at school, socially isolated Is less assertive or lacks skills necessary to respond to other students teasing Students who are bullied may also try to stay close to teacher or other adults during breaks

How Should Risk Managers Get Involved? Learn about your state laws Determine if your district has a policy What are the requirements of the policy? Training of staff Training of students Reporting requirements Documentation requirements Failure to follow laws and policies result in liability

Risk Management Can Be A Central Clearing House Student injury reports Staff injury reports Health room records Notification of claims

School Efforts To Prevent Bullying 1. Assess your schools needs and goals 2. Develop an anti-bullying policy (See WSSDA Model Policy) 3. Provide training for teachers, administrators and other school staff 4. Involve parents 5. Identify resources for bullies, victims and families 6. Provide increased supervision in areas where bullying tends to occur 7. Integrate anti-bullying themes and activities into curriculum

Take a Closer Look Bullying can be an indicator of: Gang problems Racial discrimination Disparate treatment of other protected classes (religion, special education, sexual orientation) Are the numbers disproportionate?

Work With Security Staff Training is important Concentrate first on de-escalation skills Restraint training is a last resort Documentation is crucial

When and Where Do We Start? Put Policies and Procedures in Place Monitor the School Environment and Investigate Promptly Take the pulse regularly Surveys Analyze Injury Reports Check in with teachers, counselors, support staff Train Staff and Students

Elementary Schools Start with training of students Let them develop the rules Let victims and by-standers know how and when to report concerns and to whom Encourage by-standers to speak up to bullies Encourage by-standers to reach out as friends to isolated peers Begin to build conflict-resolution skills

Middle Schools Continue with the training! Build on elementary program Continue to build conflict-resolution skills Make spectators of fights subject to discipline action Enforce the no retaliation provision of your policy Refer physical assaults to police Expand beyond bullying into sexual harassment training

High Schools Continue the training Expand on sexual harassment issues Pay particular attention to new students Initiate them in to your culture Be aware of how they act and are treated Include police when necessary Peer mediation is very effective

School District Liability for Student-Student Bullying School personnel have a duty to protect students from known or reasonable foreseeable harm District has duty to provide safe, orderly learning environment Under Civil Law, bullying may be considered a violation of an individual s rights if the victim is a member of a protected class

Individual Liability School officials may be PERSONALLY LIABLE if they maintained a practice, custom, or policy of deliberate indifference and/or reckless regard Applies to bullying, harassment, discrimination and/or sexual abuse

School District Liability for Employee- Employee Bullying & Sexual Harassment District has the duty to provide a safe work environment Duty to protect includes Monitoring Training Supervising Prompt through investigation Take action when necessary

A Similar And Related Issue: Sexual Harassment Definition: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature Quid Pro Quo this for that Hostile Environment Don t want to be there Sex Based Harassment Employment and Student Athletics and Activities

Federal Laws Civility Of Staff Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS (OCR) Guidelines Require school districts to take immediate and appropriate action to investigate or otherwise determine what occurred and take steps reasonably calculated to end any harassment, eliminate a hostile environment if one has been created, and prevent harassment from occurring again.

LaShonda D. v Monroe County Board of Education Affects all schools that accept federal money--from elementary to university levels Educators who fail to stop students from sexually harassing other students can be held liable Official with authority to help knows about the harassment but acts deliberately indifferent Actions must be severe and pervasive

Gebser vs. Largo Vista Independent School District Deliberate Indifference Oncale vs. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. Same Sex Harassment

District s Sexual Harassment Policy Should: Prohibit sexual harassment, subject to discipline action Prohibit false reports of sexual harassment, subject to discipline action Prohibits Retaliation

You Can Make It Train all staff and students to: Tell the offender to stop Report offenses Informal Reporting Formal Reporting Document, Document, Document DON T BE THE OFFENDER!

Boundary Issues Sexual harassers and bullies either #1 Do not recognize boundaries #2 Choose to ignore boundaries

Communicate! It takes a whole village to raise a child Be sure to include all staff on an asneeds-to-know basis of mental and physical disorders that can effect the safety of students and /or staff. Caution staff that this information is confidential!

Why Do We Focus On Differences? We look different We talk different We act different We learn different We work different

Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation Would Lessen if We Focused On Similarities We have common physical needs We have common monetary needs We have common emotional needs We have many similarities, but for some reason, often focus on the differences

Primary and Secondary Dimensions of Diversity Parental Status Sexual Behavior Sexual/ Affectional Orientation Physical Abilities/ Qualities/ Disabilities Education Work Background Age Gender Race Ethnicity Income Marital Status Religious Beliefs Geographic Location Military Experience

With someone near you. Take 5 minutes and list things that you have in common

HUMAN DIGNITY Recognizing and valuing that we are all a diverse community, it is part of our mission to provide a positive, harmonious environment in which diversity is respected and encouraged..

Do the adult targets differ much from student targets?

Working With Different Work Styles Take 5 minutes and answer the questions at the end of your handouts Total the score What are you?

I am a Turtle (0 45) I need to go slowly, absorb change carefully and know what s ahead

I am a Bear (46 75) I like to move at an even, alter, and persistent pace. I can move fast if necessary, but my normal pace is at a medium rate

I am a Rabbit (76 100) I love to jump ahead, take risks and be the first one there. I like action. I get bored easily

As A Learning Community, We Need To: Value the differences Focus on the similarities Treat EVERYONE with RESPECT Don t be too quick to judge Remember not everyone works, thinks or acts just like you (turtle, bear, rabbit).. This only makes others different, not worse nor better Treat others as you want to be treated

THANK YOU!