Draft Anti-bullying Policy Released in South Hadley…Will it be Effective?

The Massachusetts school district where bullied Phoebe Prince attended school before she committed suicide has revealed their draft anti-bullying policy and procedures that should be taken to prevent future incidents from occurring.

The draft policy outlines numerous procedures which include:

• Defining bullying as: severe or repeated use by one or more students of written, verbal or electronic communication, or a physical act or gesture or exclusion directed at another student having at least one of the following effects: Causes physical or emotional harm, creates a hostile environment, infringes on the person’s rights or disrupts the school.
• Detailing measures to intervene or prevent bullying, including the establishment of a process for students and staff to report bullying anonymously
• Prohibiting retaliation against those who report bullying
• Establishing clear procedures for responding to and investigating reports of bullying
• Protecting students and notifying parents or guardians of bullying
• Notifying law enforcement in cases where criminal charges may be pursued.

As multiple states (Massachusetts, Michigan, etc.) work to strengthen their anti-bullying laws, lessons learned continue to reveal that many schools are struggling to implement effective anti-bullying programs.

Bullying, Cyberbullying and School Violence are serious and systemic challenges and most schools – including administration, faculty, staff, students, parents, third-parties, first responders, etc. – are not prepared to proactively deal with these complex issues. 

 All appropriate personnel – administration, faculty, staff, students, parents and third-parties – must understand their responsibilities, including how to recognize and report suspicious incidents and red flags of bullying, cyberbullying, depression, violence, threats, etc. 

South Hadley plans to update their bullying and intervention plan every two years and will also provide annual professional development training for staff to ensure all employees understand things like prevention, intervention, cyberbullying, etc. 

Unfortunately, lessons learned clearly show that general training and once-a-year speakers are not enough.  Because bullying is not a once a year incident, if school leaders want to protect their students and save lives, then school leaders will need to make their anti-bullying program ongoing with continuous situational awareness updates and individual level accountability.