Harrassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) GSE Training Session February 18, 2012

1. Harrassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) GSE Training Session February 18, 2012

2. Today’s Schedule

3. Ground Rules for Today’s Session Make sure that you signed the attendance sheet Totally focus on the HIB training Phones put away-no texting Laptops/other personal items put away Engage and Learn! Stay to the end and sign out, verifying full session attendance

4. Main Topics We Will Address Today • Nature of bullying and harm from bullying • Key elements of NJ Anti-Bullying Law • Approaches to prevent bullying • Specific strategies and skills • Related school-based issues to consider • Things to avoid (Danger Will Robinson!)

5. A Look at Some Basic Bullying Issues

7. Generally Speaking, What Is Bullying?(not focusing on the NJ Anti-Bullying law definition)2-minute Table Breakout & Share Intentionalharmful behavior that involves unwanted negative actions Involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time Involves an imbalance of power or strength

8. Types of Bullying?(not focusing on the NJ Anti-Bullying law typology) Verbal Physical Social/Psychological Cyberbullying

9. Bullying by Grade Level Percent of all students ages 12-18 who reported being bullied during the 2008-2009 school year, by grade level Percentage of Students 36.3 % of bullied students reported that they notified a teacher or some other adult at school. IMPLICATIONS? SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey” Web Tables (NCES 2011-336).

11. Specific Bullying Behaviors Percent of students ages 12-18 who reported being bullied at school during the 2008-2009 school year, by type of bullying Made fun of, called names, or insulted Subject of rumors Pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on Threatened with harm Excluded from activities on purpose Tried to make them do something they did not want to do Property destroyed on purpose Percentage of Students SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey” Web Tables (NCES 2011-336).

12. Incident Locations Among students ages 12-18 who reported being bullied at school during the 2008-2009 school year: • 47.2 percent of students reported being bullied in a hallway or stairwell. • 33.6 percent of students reported being bullied in a classroom. Implications for school practitioners?2-minute Table Breakout & Share SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey” Web Tables (NCES 2011-336).

14. Cyberbullying: Fear and Avoidance A higher percentage of students ages 12-18 who reported being cyber-bullied anywhere during the 2008-09 school year… Avoided a specific place at school Feared that someone would attack or harm them at school or on the way to/from school Skipped school during the 2008-2009 school year What is the basic message in this data? PercentageofStudents SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey” Web Tables (NCES 2011-336).

15. Pew Research Center November, 2011 Report Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Teens-and-social-media.aspx

16. Bullying Experiences of Particular Groups • Student with disabilities tend to experience more bullying than students without disabilities (verbal, physical, exclusion) • 2009 GLSEN national school climate survey found: • Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students (middle/high school) experienced harassment at school in past year and nearly two-thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation. • For 2008-2009 school year (age 12-18), bullied rates for white/black (≈ 29%); Hispanic (≈ 25%); Asian (≈ 17%) [NCES] • For 2008-2009 school year (age 12-18), rates of being bullied 29.5% for females versus 26.6% for males [NCES]

18. Consider Harmful Effects of Bullying2-minute Table Breakout & Share Think about the 4 videos we have watched What are the short- and longer term issues with respect to harm students experience? How serious is all of this?

20. Thinking About Harm to Students: What Does the Evidence Say?

21. School Climate Matters: Psychological Well-Being Long-term serious harm results from bullying and day-to-day experiences in a toxic school environment (Arseneault et al., 2006; Bierman, 2004; Buhs, Ladd, & Herald, 2006; Cornell & Mayer, 2010; Juvonen, & Witkow, 2005; Ladd, 2003; Mayer & Furlong, 2010; Nansel et al., 2001; Mayer, 2010; Schwartz, Gorman, Nakamoto, & Toblin, 2005)

22. School Climate Matters: Psychological Well-Being • Being bullied and related victimization experiences produce psychosocial adjustment problems such as: • depression • anxiety • attentional problems • social withdrawal • which in turn lead to school avoidance and reduced motivation to engage in learning activities (Arseneault et al., 2006; Bierman, 2004; Buhs, Ladd, & Herald, 2006; Cornell & Mayer, 2010; Juvonen, & Witkow, 2005; Ladd, 2003; Mayer & Furlong, 2010; Nansel et al., 2001; Mayer, 2010; Schwartz, Gorman, Nakamoto, & Toblin, 2005)

23. School Climate Matters: Psychological Well-Being Children who bully are at higher risk of subsequent involvement in the criminal justice system and of continuing bullying in adult life. (Arseneault et al., 2006; Bierman, 2004; Buhs, Ladd, & Herald, 2006; Cornell & Mayer, 2010; Juvonen, & Witkow, 2005; Ladd, 2003; Mayer & Furlong, 2010; Nansel et al., 2001; Mayer, 2010; Schwartz, Gorman, Nakamoto, & Toblin, 2005)

24. School Climate Matters: Analogy To Child Neglect • Severe physical child abuse is analogous to school shooting • Severe harm • High profile and obvious • Quick, visible systemic response • Long-term child neglect is analogous to long-term bullying, intimidation, and incivility in schools; toxic school environments • Harm is real, substantial • Not so obvious • Marginal systemic response • Long-term harassment, intimidation, and bullying in schools that remain under addressed constitutes a form of systemic educational neglect (Mayer & Furlong, 2010)

26. What About Your School? Consider a situation where the adults at your school tend to look the other way, feel that they are too busy with other responsibilities, or for other reasons, do not address bullying incidents. If this occurred on an ongoing basis, do you think the adults in your school would be engaging in a form of child neglect? What are the issues here? 2-minute Table Breakout & Share

27. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying Law

28. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying Law • HIB Definition • HIB means any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it be a single incident or a series of incidents, that: • Is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by an actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental, physical or sensory disability, or by any other distinguishing characteristic; • Takes place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, or on a school bus; or off school grounds, as provided for in N.J.S.A. 18A:37-15.3,

29. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying LawHIB Definition (cont.) • Substantially disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students; and that • A reasonable person should know, under the circumstances, will have the effect of physically or emotionally harming a student or damaging the student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to his person or damage to his property; or • Has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students; or • Creates a hostile educational environment for the student by interfering with a student’s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student.

30. Does the following video constitute bullying per the NJ ABR definition? Look at the boy’s behavior relative to the girl and use of the sliding board .

32. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying Law • Key Groups and Individuals in the Process • The school district chief school administrator (CSA) is required to appoint a district anti-bullying coordinator (ABC) • Coordinating and strengthening the school district’s policies to prevent, identify and address HIB of students; • Collaborating with the School Anti-Bullying Specialists in the school district, the BOE and the CSA to prevent, identify and respond to HIB of students in the school district; other duties

33. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying Law • Key Groups and Individuals in the Process • The principal in each school is required to appoint a School Anti-Bullying Specialist (ABS). The ABS must be a guidance counselor; school psychologist; or other school employee trained to be the ABS • Responsibilities of the ABS include the following: • Chairing the school safety team; • Leading investigation of HIB incidents at school; • Acting as the primary school official responsible for preventing, identifying and addressing HIB incidents in the school.

34. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying Law • Key Groups and Individuals in the Process • School Safety Team – A school safety team (SST) must be formed in each school. The SST needs to help facilitate a positive school climate. The SST includes the principal or senior administrative designee, teacher, ABS, parent of a student in the school; and others determined by principal. • SST responsibilities include: • Receiving records of all complaints of HIB • Receiving copies of all HIB investigation reports • Identifying and addressing patterns of HIB in the school • Reviewing and strengthening school climate and related school policies to prevent HIB; Educating the community on HIB; other duties (Note: parent member has no access to confidential student information from complaints, investigations, or other sources)

35. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying Law • Reporting Requirements • Reported verbally to the principal on the same day when the school employee or contracted service provider witnessedor received reliable information regarding any such incident. • Reported in writing within two days of the verbal report (the day the incident was witnessed or information about the incident was received). • Procedure must include a provision permitting a person to anonymously report an act of HIB; however, this must not be construed to permit formal disciplinary action solely on the basis of an anonymous report.

36. Some Elements of the NJ Anti-Bullying Law • Investigation Requirements • Initiate investigation within 1 day of receiving report of incident, conducted by a school anti-bullying specialist in coordination with the principal. • Investigation completed no later than 10 school days from the date of the written report of the incident. • Results of the investigation must be reported to the school district’s chief school administrator (CSA) within two school days of completion of the investigation.

37. BREAK 14 minutes and 59 seconds ☺which means we begin again in exactly 15 minutes

38. Facilitated Table Sessions Approaches to Prevent Bullying

40. Approaches to Prevent Bullying Challenge Question #1: 5-minute table breakout and share Choose one table member as discussion facilitator and one as note taker to report back to the group A school can be highly successful in its efforts to prevent HIB if its primary approach and main thrust involves buying a commercial bullying prevention program, training school personnel, and implementing the program as designed. Identify what you see as the main issues in a school’s approach to preventing HIB and to what extent you agree or disagree with the statement above (and why).

42. Approaches to Prevent Bullying Challenge Question #2: 5-minute table breakout and share Choose one table member as discussion facilitator and one as note taker to report back to the group A school can be highly successful in its efforts to prevent HIB if it relies on the overall general input from administrators, teachers, other staff, students, and parents, without any formal survey-based approach to collecting data on school climate and student victimization experiences. Identify what you see as the main issues in a school’s approach to using data to help prevent HIB and to what extent you agree or disagree with the statement above (and why).

44. Approaches to Prevent Bullying Challenge Question #3: 5-minute table breakout and share Choose one table member as discussion facilitator and one as note taker to report back to the group A school can be highly successful in its efforts to prevent HIB without too much attention in its various prevention approaches and activities to HIB bystander behaviors. Identify what you see as the main issues in a school’s approach to prevent HIB with respect to bystander behaviors and to what extent you agree or disagree with the statement above (and why).

46. Approaches to Prevent Bullying Challenge Question #4: 5-minute table breakout and share Choose one table member as discussion facilitator and one as note taker to report back to the group A school can be highly successful in its efforts to prevent HIB if it just focuses its attention to what happens at school, with no regard for larger neighborhood and community issues. Identify what you believe to be the main issues in a school’s approach to prevent HIB and to what extent you agree or disagree with the statement above in italics.

48. Working Lunch Complete Assessment #1

49. Best Practices From the Bullying Research Base(we’ll consider a few of these in detail-bold items) • Changing school climate • Assessing climate/bullying/victimization • Training all staff • School anti-bullying advisory team • Actively including staff, parents, and students • Disseminate clear rules and consequences • Increase adult supervision • Provide consistent individual intervention • Allow class time to focus on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) • Sustain efforts annually • Reproduced with text editing from Figure 4.1 in Bullying Prevention & Intervention: Realistic Strategies for Schools. Swearer & Espelage (2009). Guilford

50. Some Specific Approaches Schools Can Take