Bullying BOE Policies  1710-4021-7230 Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying  1720-4015-7225 Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Complaint Procedure  1720-4015-7225R Title IX Protection Against Sex Discrimination (Administrative Regulation Related to Sex Offenders)

Bullying In The Workplace Three Major Types: Bullying At School Cyberbullying Bullying In The Workplace

What Is Bullying? Harassment or bullying behavior is any pattern of gestures or written, electronic or verbal communications, or any physical act or any threatening communication that: (1) places a student or school employee in actual and reasonable fear of harm to his or her person or damage to his or her property; or  (2) creates or is certain to create a hostile environment by substantially interfering with or impairing someone’s educational performance, opportunities or benefits.

Bullying At School Students can learn and achieve at optimal levels ONLY if they know they are both physically and psychologically safe at school. Furthermore, if they don’t feel safe they are more likely to drop out before high school graduation. (Rumberger, R.W. (1995) American Educational Research Journal, 32, 583-625)

Examples Unwanted teasing Threatening, intimidating, stalking, Cyberstalking, cyberbullying Physical violence Theft Sexual, religious, or racial harassment, public humiliation Destruction of school or personal property Social exclusion, including incitement and/or coercion Rumor or spreading of falsehoods http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/com_health/violence/bullying_prevent_guide.pdf

Bullying: Trends Bullying appears to be on the rise. A follow-up study by Dan Olweus in 2002 showed the percentage of victimized students had increased by 50%. Serious bullying by degree and frequency was up by 65%. The number one reason adolescent boys and girls gave for being targeted for abuse is “I don’t fit in”. Approximately 160,000 school children stay home each day out of fear, often without telling their parents why. http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/com_health/violence/bullying_prevent_guide.pdf

Bullying: Trends Bullying is 4x more prevalent than sexual harassment. 29% of workers 55 years of age or older have been bullied. 18% of disability claims were based on psychological distress attributed to workplace bullying. http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/com_health/violence/bullying_prevent_guide.pdf

Where Can This Occur? School premises before, after or during school. Bus stops. Any time a child is under the authority of school personnel. On the bus or other school-related vehicle. Regular or extracurricular activities. Any time or place it directly impacts behavior/order within the school. http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/com_health/violence/bullying_prevent_guide.pdf

CyberBullying Cyberbullying can occur in many electronic spaces including: Chat Rooms or Discussion Posts Emails Instant Messaging Cell phones/Text messages Webpages Blogs FACEBOOK

Examples of CyberBullying Sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images. Posting sensitive, private information about another person. Pretending to be someone else in order to make that person look bad. Intentionally excluding someone from an online group. (http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/adults/cyber-bullying.aspx)

Impact of Bullying and Harassment In The Workplace Fear/Stress/Anxiety Depression Physical symptoms Loss of motivation, concentration, self-confidence and morale Financial costs Source: http://www.careerone.com.au/media/documents/press-releases/CareerOne-Bullies-in-the-workplace.pdf

Organizational Culture Determines what attitudes and behaviors are tolerated and even encouraged.

Hint: see Policies1720/4015/7225 when reporting. You Must Report! Employees are required to report any actual or suspected violations of this policy. Reports may be made anonymously! Hint: see Policies1720/4015/7225 when reporting.