Bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Prevention

1. Bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Prevention What’s PBIS got to do with it? Rosanne C. Wilson Positive Behavioral Programs Student Services HCPSS August 5, 2009

2. Tertiary Prevention: Specialized Individualized Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior Anti-bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Strategies ~5% Secondary Prevention: Specialized Group Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior Primary Prevention: School-/Classroom- Wide Systems for All Students, Staff, & Settings ~15% Anti-bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Strategies ~80% of Students

3. COMAR 13A.04.05.05-1: “All students in Maryland’s Public Schools, without exception, and regardless of race, ethnicity, region, religion, gender, sexual orientation, language, socioeconomic status, age, or disabilityhave the right to educational environments that are safe; optimal for academic achievement; and free from any form of harassment.”

4. Safe Schools Reporting Act 2005 A data collection system to collect information on acts of bullying, harassment and intimidation in the State. • MSDE required county boards of education to report incidents of bullying, harassment and intimidation against students attending a public school. • MSDE developed and disseminated a standard Victim of Harassment and Intimidation forms to county boards of education. (August, 2005)

6. House Bill 199 Each county board shall establish a policy prohibiting bullying, harassment, or intimidation at school based on the model policy developed by MSDE. Each local school system (LSS) policy shall address the components of the model policy specified in in MSDE Model Bullying Policy. STATE BOARD APPROVES MODEL POLICY DESIGNED TO CURB BULLYING BEHAVIOR BALTIMORE, MD (February 24, 2009)– The Maryland State Board of Education today approved a model policy targeting the growing problems associated with bullying. Maryland’s Model Anti-Bullying, Harassment, and Intimidation Policy sets a statewide definition of bullying behavior.

7. Definitions Bullying Intentional conduct, including verbal, physical, or written conduct, or an intentional electronic communication that creates a hostile educational environment by substantially interfering with a student’s or staff member’s educational benefits, opportunities, or performance, or with their physical or psychological well-being and is: (Electronic communication means a communication transmitted by means of an electronic device, including but not limited to a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or pager.)

8. Definitions • Bullying • motivated by an actual or a perceived personal characteristic including race, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ancestry, physical attributes, socioeconomic status, familial status, physical or mental ability or disability, or • threatening or seriously intimidating; and • occurs on school property at a school activity or event or on a school bus; or  substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a school or workplace.

9. Definitions • Harassment A sufficiently severe action or persistent, pervasive pattern of actions or statements, directed at an identifiable individual or group, that is intended to be, or which a reasonable person would perceive as, ridiculing or demeaning. • Intimidation Subjection to intentional action that seriously threatens and induces a sense of fear and/or inferiority which adversely affects one’s ability to participate in or benefit from the educational or work setting. Cyberbullying Harassing, humiliating, intimidating, and/or threatening others on the Internet or via cell phones and other electronic communication (e.g., emails, web pages, instant messaging).

10. Bullying is an old problem…

11. That isn’t funny…..

12. Impact • Stresses of being bullied can interfere with student’s engagement and learning in school (NEA Today, 1999). • Children and youth who are bullied are more likely than other children to be depressed, lonely, anxious, have low self-esteem, feel unwell, and think about suicide (Limber, 2002; Olweus, 1993). • Students who are bullied may fear going to school, using the bathroom, and riding on the school bus (NEA 1, 2003). • Bullying also has an impact on other students at school who are bystanders to bullying (Banks, 1997). Bullying creates a climate of fear and disrespect in schools and has a negative impact on student learning (NEA 1, 2003).

13. The Prevalence of Bullying • 30% of 6th through 10th graders in the United States reported being bullies, victims, or a combination of both. • - Approximately 160,000 students stay home from school each day to avoid being bullied. - In more than 2/3 of the school shootings, the attackers felt “persecuted, bullied, threatened, or attacked. (Whitted & Dupper, 2005)

14. The Prevalence of Bullying • By age 24, 60% of former bullies have been convicted of a crime. • - Out of the total number of students who drop out of school each year, 10% do so because of fear of being bullied. • - Girls are more likely to bully each other using social exclusion. (Olweus, 2002)

15. Prevalence • 18% of students in grades 6-8 said they had been cyberbullied at least once in the last couple of months; and 6% said it had happened to them 2 or more times (Kowalski et al., 2005). • 11% of students in grades 6-8 said they had cyberbullied another person at least once in the last couple of months, and 2% said they had done it two or more times (Kowalski et al., 2005).

16. Prevalence • In nationally representative surveys of 10-17 year-olds, twice as many children and youth indicated that they had been victims and perpetrators of online harassment in 2005 compared with 1999/2000 (Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2006). • 17% of 6-11 year-olds and 36% of 12-17-year-olds reported that someone said threatening or embarrassing things about them through email, instant messages, web sites, chat rooms, or text messages (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2006).

18. The Power of Prevention • Annual professional development • School-wide evidence based anti-bullying prevention • School-climate improvement efforts that promote student involvement • Collaboration with families and the community to inform parents about prevalence, causes, and consequences • Objectives included in curriculum • Prevention & intervention at the school level, classroom level and individual student level. • Data collection and analysis to guide decision making

19. Main Ideas All “bully proofing/prevention” skills are more effective if the school has first established a set of school-wide behavioral expectations. Create Effective Learning Environments that are: Predictable Consistent Positive Safe (Ross & Horner)

20. An Approach What does NOT work Identifying the “bully” and excluding him/her from school Pretending that Bullying Behavior is the “fault” of the student/family/victim. What does work Define, teach and reward school-wide behavior expectations. Teach all children to identify and label inappropriate behavior. Not respectful, not responsible., not safe Teach all students a “stop signal” to give when they experience problem behavior. What to do if you experience problem behavior (victim, recipient) What to do if you see someone else in a problem situation (bystander) Teach all students what to do if someone delivers the “stop signal”

21. Do not focus on “Bullying” Focus on appropriate behavior. What is the behavior you want “Responsible” “Respectful”

22. Teaching Social Responsibility Teach school-wide expectations first Be respectful Be responsible Be safe Focus on “non-structured” settings Cafeteria, Gym, Playground, Hallway, Bus Area Teach Bully Prevention “SKILLS” If someone directs problem behavior toward you. If you see others receive problem behavior If someone tells you to “stop”

23. Teach a school-wide “stop” signal If someone is directing problem behavior to you, or someone else, tell them to “stop.” What is the “Stop Signal” for your school? Have a physical as well as verbal signal “Stop” “Enough” “Don’t”

24. Teach how to use the “Stop Signal” How do you deliver the “stop signal” if you are feeling someone is not being respectful (your feel intimidated, harassed, bullied)? How do you deliver the “stop signal” if you see someone else being harassed, teased, bullied? What to do if someone uses the “stop signal” with you?

25. Teach “walk away” Most socially initiated problem behavior is maintained by peer attention. Victim behavior inadvertently maintains taunt, tease, intimidate, harassment behavior. Build social reward for victim for “walking away” Do not reward inappropriate behavior.

26. Teach “getting help” Report problems to adults Where is the line between tattling, and reporting? The adult should always ask: Did you say, “stop” Did you walk away?

27. Tertiary Prevention: Specialized Individualized Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior Anti-bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Strategies ~5% Secondary Prevention: Specialized Group Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior Primary Prevention: School-/Classroom- Wide Systems for All Students, Staff, & Settings ~15% Anti-bullying, Harassment & Intimidation Strategies ~80% of Students

28. Resources • Bullying Prevention in Positive Behavior Supportby Scott Ross, M.S, Rob Horner, Ph.D, & Bruce Stiller, Ph.D • www.pbismaryland.org • www.olweus.org/public/recognizing_bullying.page • www.pbis.org • www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov(Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services) • rosanne_wilson@hcpss.org