Below is the model bullying policy made available by the New York State Department of Education for school districts within New York to use when crafting their own bullying and cyberbullying policies. Each state’s policies vary when it comes to how they: define bullying, harassment, threats, intimidation, and violence; expect reporting and investigating to be carried out, specify response strategies, define penalties, and prescribe certain types of prevention programs and practices. We recommend that you review and consider updating your own bullying policy on an annual basis with input from educators, administrators, counselors, mental health professionals, parents, and students themselves. That will optimize the likelihood that the policy you implement achieves its goals. Last Updated: August 7, 2019 URL of Source: http://p1232.nysed.gov/dignityact/documents/DASAGuidanceLocalImplementation.pdf
New York “Dignity Act” Model Guide for Local Implementation
INTRODUCTION
This guide was originally issued in June of 2012 as “Sample Local Policy Guidelines”. Since that time the Dignity for All Students Act (Dignity Act) was amended by Chapter 102 of the Laws of 2012, with an effective date of July 1, 2013. This guide has been updated to conform to the amended law. It is offered as a voluntary tool to assist school districts (districts), boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), and charter schools in the implementation of the Dignity Act. It was developed with input from the Dignity Act Task Force. Be aware that the Dignity Act does not alter any existing anti-discrimination obligations under federal civil rights law, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and their respective implementing regulations; (e.g., Titles II, VI, IX, Section 504). Districts, BOCES and charter schools should consult with their attorneys to ensure that their policies comply with federal civil rights laws and regulations enforced by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights. NYSED also recommends that districts, BOCES, and charter schools review federal guidance on discrimination and harassment, including, but not limited to OCR’s Dear Colleague Letters regarding harassment and bullying (October 26, 2010 and April 4, 2011), which can be found at: www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague201010.html and http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201104.html. In addition, the Dignity Act does not alter the requirement of adopting and publishing a nondiscrimination policy. For guidance on developing a nondiscrimination policy, please visit the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) website at: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/poloverview.html Districts, BOCES, and charter schools, in consultation with their attorneys, might also want to consider non-punitive options, as well as a progressive model of discipline, when addressing problematic off-school property/off-school campus behavior. Moreover, districts, BOCES, and charter schools must address and make every effort to prevent in- school harassment regardless of whether the students involved are also experiencing harassment outside of school.Bullying – A Description of the Behavior
Although the amended Dignity Act provides a legal definition of bullying it is the board’s intention to, prevent bullying wherever possible. The following guidance is offered to help identify the behavior so staff, persons in parental relations, and students can recognize it early and prevent escalation. Bullying has been described as an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying can occur before and after school hours, in a school building or at locations such as on a playground or on a school bus while a student is traveling to or from school, or on the Internet. Students who are bullied and those who bully others may potentially have serious and lasting problems. According to the United States Department of Education (USDOE), www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/index.html, bullying generally involves the following characteristics:- An Imbalance of Power: Students who bully others use their power, such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity, to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same
- The Intent to Cause Harm: Determining the intent of an individual who demonstrates bullying behaviors may be difficult. The perception of the person who is the target of those behaviors should also be
- Repetition: Bullying behaviors generally happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than
- Verbal: Name-calling, teasing, inappropriate sexual comments, taunting, and threatening to cause
- Social: Spreading rumors about someone, excluding others on purpose, telling other students not to be friends with someone, and embarrassing someone in public.
- Physical: Hitting, punching, shoving, kicking, pinching, spitting, tripping, pushing and taking or breaking someone’s
- Avoiding an empty seat in class because it is next to a larger
- Heavy sighing to indicate disapproval each time a student of a particular race walks into the
Prevention
The school setting provides an opportunity to teach students, and emphasize among staff, that cooperation with and respect for others is a key value of the district, (BOCES, or charter school). A program geared to prevention is designed to not only decrease incidents of harassment, bullying and/or discrimination, but to help students build more supportive relationships with one another by integrating the prevention and intervention program into classroom instruction. Staff members and students should be sensitized, through district- wide, BOCES-wide, or charter school-wide professional development and instruction, to the warning signs of harassment, bullying and/or discrimination, as well as to their responsibility to become actively involved in the prevention of such acts before they occur. The components of such an effort involve the following:- Following the voluntary principles and practices of “Educating the Whole Child Engaging the Whole School: Guidelines and Resources for Social and Emotional Development and Learning (SEDL) in New York State,”1 district curriculum will emphasize empathy, tolerance, and respect for others. These guidelines can be found at: p12.nysed.gov/sss/sedl/SEDLguidelines.pdf.
- Learning about and identifying the early warning signs and precursor behaviors that can lead to harassment, bullying and/or
- Gathering information about harassment, bullying and/or discrimination directly from students (through surveys and other mechanisms); analyzing and using the data gathered to assist in decision-making about programming and resource
- Establishing clear school-wide rules about harassment, bullying and/or discrimination through a district or BOCES Code
- § 12(2) and 2801 and 8 NYCRR §100.2(l), or in the case of a charter school, establishing such rules in its disciplinary rules and procedures, pursuant to Education Law §2851(2)(h) and 8 NYCRR §119.6, or, if applicable, in its Code of Conduct, that comply with the Dignity Act requirements. New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) Dignity for All Students Act Guidance for Updating Codes of Conduct can be found at:
- Training adults in the school community to respond sensitively and consistently to harassment, bullying and/or
- Raising awareness among school staff, through training, of the school experiences of student populations specified in the Dignity for All Students Act, including, but not limited to; students of different races, weights, national origins, ethnic groups, religions, religious practices, mental or physical abilities, sexual orientations, gender or gender identity/expression, and sex; social stigma in the school environment, gender norms in the school environment, and strategies for preventing and responding to harassment, bullying and/or
- Providing adequate supervision, particularly in less structured areas, including, but not limited to, hallways, cafeterias, school buses and
- Raising parental and community awareness and involvement regarding harassment, bullying and/or discrimination prevention and
- Providing examples of positive behaviors that are age
- Instituting policies and practices that create a positive school
- Using educational opportunities or curricula, including, if applicable, the Individual Educational Program (IEP) or 504 Plans, to address the underlying causes and effects of harassment, bullying and/or
- Educating students regarding safe and appropriate use of the Internet and social media.
Intervention
Intervention by adults and bystanders, including students, with proper training can be an important step in preventing escalation and resolving issues at the earliest stages. Remedial responses to harassment, bullying and/or discrimination will likely involve staff intervention. Responses may include measures designed to correct the behavior, prevent another occurrence of the behavior, and protect the targeted student. Remediation can be targeted to the individual(s) involved in the aforementioned behavioral approaches, or environmental approaches which are targeted to the school or district, BOCES, or charter school as a whole. In addition, intervention will focus upon the safety of the targeted student. Staff who are aware of incidents of harassment, bullying and/or discrimination are expected to refer the targeted student to designated resources for assistance and/or intervene in accordance with this policy and the relevant provisions of the code of conduct or, in the case of a charter school, the relevant provisions of its disciplinary rules and procedures, or, if applicable, in its Code of Conduct.Provisions for Students Who Do Not Feel Safe at School
The board acknowledges that, notwithstanding actions taken by the district, BOCES, or charter school staff, intervention might require a specific, coordinated approach, if a student does not feel safe at school. Students who do not feel safe at school are limited in their capacity to learn and reach their academic potential. Staff, when aware of incidents of harassment, bullying and/or discrimination should determine if accommodations are needed in order to help ensure the safety of the student and bring this to the attention of the building principal, his/her designee, or other staff as determined by the principal/designee. The building principal, or designated staff, the student, and the person in parental relation to the student shall work together to define and implement any needed accommodations. The district, BOCES, or charter school recognizes that there is a need to balance accommodations that enhance student safety against the potential of further stigmatizing the targeted student. Therefore, each case shall be handled individually, and the student, person in parental relation, and school administration shall collaborate to establish safety provisions that best meet the needs of the student. Follow-up discussion and/or meetings will be scheduled, as needed, to ensure that safety concerns have been adequately addressed and to determine when and if accommodations need to be added, changed, or discontinued.Training
The board recognizes that professional development is needed in order to implement an effective harassment, bullying and discrimination prevention and intervention program. The Superintendent and the District Professional Development Team shall incorporate training to support this program in the annual professional development plan, and provide additional training as needed. Training opportunities shall be provided to all employees, including, but not limited to teachers, administrators, monitors, aides, bus drivers, coaches, custodians, cafeteria staff, and hall monitors. Such training shall:- Raise awareness and sensitivity to potential acts of harassment, bullying and discrimination directed at
- Address the social patterns of harassment, bullying and discrimination, the identification and mitigation of such acts, and strategies for effectively addressing problems of exclusion, bias and aggression in educational
- Enable employees to prevent and respond to incidents of harassment, bullying and/or
- Make school employees aware of the effects of harassment, bullying, cyberbullying, and/or discrimination of
- Ensure the effective implementation of school policy on school conduct and discipline
- Include safe and supportive school climate concepts in curriculum and classroom management.