Our public schools are tasked with providing a safe and reasonably pleasant learning environment for all students. And that’s achievable only with a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and related offenses.
No child should have to endure getting picked on or assaulted — and nobody doing anything about it. So, it’s encouraging that the state Department of Education appears poised to update and toughen up its anti-bullying effort.
Among the proposed changes:
>> Bullying, harassment and cyberbullying in middle and high school would be upgraded to the most serious class of offense, Class A, in the student misconduct code.
>> Sexual harassment would be added to the code as a Class A offense for grades 5-12. And for the first time, policy would specify protections against harassment, bullying and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
This ongoing policy scrutiny, which will include future Board of Education public hearings, is prompted, in part, by an agreement the state signed in December with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights in the aftermath of a lengthy compliance review that revealed a statewide system struggling to effectively handle these issues.
Among the findings: Thousands of students were victimized again after reporting an incident of bullying or harassment. The review rightly dinged the DOE for failing to consistently take steps to protect victims or to follow up. Also, in a statewide bullying survey, nearly 40 percent of about 70,000 participating students said bullying incidents had made them feel unsafe at school.
Nearly one-third of those responding to the survey — more than 20,000 kids — indicated that they had been bullied or harassed at school, on the way to or from school, or at a school-sponsored off-campus function during the 2014-15 year. And roughly 60 percent of those kids indicated that the abuse was tied to their race, sex and/or disability.
The DOE has already made some improvements, such as hiring new compliance officers and stepping up training through which students are encouraged to report incidents. Clearly, though, more should be done, especially for groups contending with high bullying rates, such as LGBTQ youth and special-education students.
Yes, schoolyard bullies have been around forever. But that’s no reason to tolerate such behavior. Not even once. Research shows that when adults respond quickly and consistently, they send the key message that bullying is unacceptable. And, over time, that helps defuse problems.
The DOE is taking a much-needed step in the right direction with a proposed scrapping of a provision that has allowed isolated or one-time incidents to not be considered bullying. Each incident must be addressed.
Still, that’s not to say any hint of bullying behavior automatically fetches a harsh penalty. School principals would decide consequences based on five factors: intent of the offender, nature and severity of the offense, impact of the offense on others, the offender’s age and whether an incident is a repeat offense.
Another worthy addition to policy is a proposal that would require the principal to forward complaints to the department’s Civil Rights Compliance Branch.
No one should be looking the other way. Indeed, an effective policy hinges on buy-in from each adult crossing paths with students as well as kids themselves in all grade levels. And crucial to gaining support is education — raising awareness about bullying — and training on how to prevent, identify and respond to problems.
Everybody has a role to play in promoting a culture of respect and responsibility in our schools, homes and communities. It is understandable that a student may feel anxious about an upcoming math test or science project. But no student should have to worry about bullying.
