Bullying and Other Aggressive Behaviors

1. Bullying and Other Aggressive Behaviors Teacher Training Information provided by Safe School Center (LACOE)

2. Training Outcomes • Understanding what bullying is and recent laws. • Identify factors involved in bullying. • Strategies to help personnel deal with bullying and aggressive behaviors. • Identify evidence – based practices to address bullying. • Understand life in cyberspace.

3. Some Statistics • LA times Article – June 21, 2008: 48% of seventh graders claimed they were bullied. • 13% carry a weapon to school. • 71% do not have a caring relationship with an adult. • Bullies are 5 to 6 times more likely to have: • Serious criminal records by young adulthood. • 60% characterized as bullies in grades 6th through 9th had at least one criminal record by age 24.

4. Definition of Bullying • Bullying among students is defined as intentional, repeated hurtful acts, words or other behavior, such as name-calling, threatening and or/shunning committed by one or more children against another.

5. Bullying • An abusive behavior that often leads to greater and prolonged violent behavior. • The most enduring and underrated problem in American schools. • An intentional victimization over time that causes injury, discomfort, fear, and suffering. • An imbalance of power between the bully and he victim.

6. Types of Bullying • Physical – hitting, kicking. • Verbal – name calling. • Social exclusion. • Spreading rumors. • Cyber bullying – via e-mails, texts, websites.

7. The Function of Bullying • Attention, recognition, prestige, acceptance in peer group. • Access to activity or item. • A lack of understanding of social/cultural, psychological, or physical differences.

8. Bullying Laws • AB 86 established new law on bullying: • This law permits a student to be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion for engaging in acts of bullying. • Ed Code 48900 (r): Engaged in an act of bullying, including, but not limited to bullying committed by means of an electronic act, as defined in subdivisions (f) and (g) of Section 32261, directed specifically toward a pupil or school personnel.

9. Seth’s Law • This bill, AB 9, would require schools to establish policies to prevent bullying, be responsive to complaints about bullying, train personnel how to recognize and intervene in bullying, and make resources available to victims of bullying. • Although CA has adopted anti-bullying legislation, students are still subject to harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Seth’s law tightens anti-bullying policies in CA.

10. Factors within Community that contribute to Anti-Social Behavior • Antisocial networks • Opportunities exist for similar antisocial peers to interact. • Too little for children and youth to do after school and during summer. • There is little done for children regarding screening aggressive acts out of the media. • Climate emphasizes punishment over searching for causes of the behavior.

11. Home and School Factors Contributing to Anti-Social Behavior • Coercive Punitive Environment. • Inconsistent Application of Consequences. • Rules Unclear and Inconsistent. • Little or no Acknowledgment of Appropriate Behavior. • Misuse of Behavior Management Procedures. • Rejection.

12. Frequent Characteristics of Bullying for Girls • Social cruelty. • Manipulation. • Hurt Feelings. • Subtle rejection or ostracism. • Character assassination.

13. Frequent Characteristics of Bullying for Boys • Intimidation • Control • Humiliation • Power domination • Threats to one’s safety

14. Tactics used by Girls • Name calling • Isolating the victim • Ethnic slurs • Spreading false rumors

15. Tactics used by Boys • Name calling Pushing • Shoving Spitting • Fistfights Kicking • Extortion Repeated Attacks • Defacing property • Inappropriate sexual behavior

16. Common Prevention Strategies • Using a multifaceted, comprehensive approach • Establishing a school wide policy that addresses indirect bullying (e.g. rumor spreading, isolation, social exclusion), which is more hidden, as well as direct bullying (e.g. physical aggression). • Providing guidelines for teachers, other staff and students (including witnesses) on specific actions to take if bullying occurs. • Educating and involving parents to so they understand the problem, recognize its signs and intervene appropriately.

17. Common Prevention Strategies (cont.) Encouraging students to report known bullying. Developing a comprehensive reporting system to track bullying and interventions used with specific bullies and victims. Encouraging students to be helpful to classmates who may be bullied. Supervision of the campus. Conduct post-intervention surveys to access the strategies.

18. Common Prevention Strategies (cont.) • Bullying and suicide prevention share common strategies: • Focus on the school environment. • Family outreach. • Identification of students in need of mental and behavioral health services. • Helping students and their families find appropriate services.

19. School-wide Prevention Activities • Establish common set of expectations for positive behavior across all school contexts. • Establish and implement clear anti-bullyingpolicies. • Involve all school staff in prevention activities. • Train teachers to implement effective classroom management strategies and how to respond to bullying. • Collect data • Provide high – levels of supervision in bullying.

20. What Can Teachers’ Do? • Post and discuss clear rules as to how to behave. • Conduct class meetings to discuss bullying and what to do about it. • Promote a classroom environment of understanding, acceptance and appreciation of individual differences. • Model respect for individual differences.

21. What Can Teachers’ Do? (cont.) • Explain that telling and tattling are not the same. • Pair isolated students with friends. • Have a serious individual talks with bullies, victims and parents of students involved. • Positively recognized bullies for improvements.

22. What Can Teachers’ Do? • Teach bystanders to befriend victims. • Involve members of the student support service team in working with victims and bullies. • Illustrative classrooms rules

23. Life in Cyberspace(Generation MP: Media in the Lives of 8 to 18 year olds (Jan. 2010)) • Three most popular computer activities: • Visiting social networking sites. • Playing computer games. • Watching videos on sites. • The result… • Youth who spend more time with media report lower grades and lower levels of personal contentment. • Two groups stand out for high media consumption: • 11 to 14 years old (Black and Hispanics)

24. Issues in the School • Schools often must balance competing interests (e.g. free speech or right to privacy versus need to implement education mission, control discipline) • The majority of cyber misconducts occur off campus. • Laws have not caught up with technology; court decisions have been inconsistent.

25. Jurisdiction – EC 48900 • A pupil may not be suspended or expelled unless misconduct is related to school activity or school attendance occurring within a school at any time, including, but not limited to, any of the following: • While on school grounds. • While going to or coming from school. • During the lunch period whether on or off campus. • During, or while going to or coming from, a school sponsored activity.

26. Case Laws of Importance • Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent CSD (1969) • Bethel SD vs. Fraser (1988) • Hazelwood USD c. Kuhlmeier (1988) • Lovell vs. Poway USD (1996) • Morse vs. Fredrick (2007)

27. Choices • http://whatsyourstory.trendmicro.com/internet-safety/pg/winners-2012

28. When Schools Cannot Act • Victims can always pursue action in civil court defamation, invasion of privacy, distress, negligence) • Action can be pursued through criminal law when online harassment involves: • Threats of violence to people or their property • Coercion • Stalking • Sentiments indicative of a hate crime • Sexual exploitation • Creating or sending sexually explicit images of minors

29. Sexting • http://whatsyourstory.trendmicro.com/internet-safety/pg/winners-2012

30. Sexting • Production/manufacturing = creating • Distribution/dissemination = sending or forwarding • Possession = keeping • Receiving is not an offense • The longer it remains, the more serious the offense • Legal Ramifications • 5 to 20 years in prison (Federal) • Up to 3 years in prison and $2500 fine (state) • Registered sex offender for a lifetime

31. Scenario – Ms. Booty • A student covertly films his teacher with the help of another student on school grounds. • The video is posted on YouTube and includes comments on the teacher’s hygiene, footage of the other student making pelvic thrusts behind the teacher’s back and shots of the teacher from behind as she bends over to pick something up. • There’s a graphic reading, “Caution Booty ahead,” and music from the song, “Ms. New booty”

32. Scenario – Mean Girls • A student videotapes herself and other students saying unflattering things about the victim at a restaurant in the evening. • The student goes home, posts video online and calls the victim and 8 other students to view the video. • The victim and her mother go to school the next day to report the incident, and the victim received counseling. She returned to class after first period. • The student was suspended for 2 days.

33. “Where Are You?” • http://whatsyourstory.trendmicro.com/internet-safety/pg/winners-2011

34. District Technology • Computer files and electronic communications, including email and voice mail, are not private. • As they are paid through public funds, technological resources should be primarily be used for work-related purposes. • The superintendent or designee may monitor employee usage of technological resources, including the accessing of email and stored files: • Minimize legal exposures • Increase employee productivity • Avoid loss or release of confidential information

35. Obligations& Responsibilities • Not develop any classroom or work-related websites, blogs, forums, or similar online communications representing the district without permission. • Not access, post, submit, publish, or display harmful or inappropriate matter that is threatening, obscene, disruptive, or sexually explicit, or that could be construed as harassment or disparagement of others. • Not promote unethical practices or any activity prohibited by law, Board Policy, or administrative regulations.

36. Natalie Munroe • http://abcnews.go.com/US/pennsylvania-teacher-wrote-insulting-blog-posts-students-suspended/story?id=12929001#.UEjwsOY-JNM

37. Things to Consider • Using good judgment • Appropriate teacher-student communication • Topics • Time of Day • Postings on social networking sites • Profile content • Comments • Pictures (of students, self and family/friend) • Access