School Bullying Outbreak – Building and Maintaining a Safe School Environment
Posted In Education, School Safety on January 26th, 2012 Tags: anonymous bullying reporting, bullycide, bullying, bullying prevention, Incident ReportingA special thanks to Sarah Fudin for the “School Bullying Outbreak” infographic above raising awareness and providing facts about bullying methods, bullying consequences and preventative measures. Once you have reviewed this educational graphic, please scroll down to see our “Next Steps” for bullying prevention.
Via MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching
Like Sarah points out in her blog, we all believe schools should be a safe place for students where they can learn without fear or apprehension. Yet the “School Bullying Outbreak” infographic reveals bullying problems and alarming personal consequences are creating lots of fear and challenges for students, schools, parents and communities too.
And bullying and cyberbullying challenges are not just causing problems in classrooms in the U.S.A.; challenges and dangerous trends exist in schools all around the globe….Why?
Safe learning environments should be created in schools and classrooms, yet dangerous and alarming trends continue to cause major problems in schools and classrooms? Why?
Tragic incidents, suicides, lawsuits, federal investigations and settlements continue to reveal how schools are struggling to “build and maintain” a safe learning environment in the 21st century…Why?
The simple answer is because schools, students, parents and community resources are “not EQUIPPED to build and maintain” a safe learning environment in 21st century.
For example, the “School Bullying Outbreak” infographic lists prevention methods like anti-bullying programs, intervening in aggressive interaction between students, enforcing rules and behavior management in the detection and diffusion of bullying, implementing a school-wide anti-bullying policy and rallying parents and staff together to be vigilant.
These are all good ideas that sound good too, but…
Schools, staff, students, parents, safety teams, bus drivers, counselors, law enforcement and other community resources are NOT EQUIPPED to:
- Build and maintain a safe learning environment in the 21st century
- Monitor anti-bullying programs
- Intervene between aggressive interaction between students and track the situation
- Enforce rules because of the lack of accountability
- Enforce behavior management
- Detect and diffuse bullying and other hostile activities
- Implement a school-wide anti-bullying policy
- Rally parents and staff together
Schools, staff, students, parents, safety teams, bus drivers, counselors, law enforcement and other community resources are NOT EQUIPPED with 21st century tools to ensure situational awareness and accountability with audit-ready, legal-ready and real-time documentation at the individual-level.
Lessons learned have exposed 20th century tools – binders, intranets, e-mails, annual training, memos, assemblies, policies, plans, programs, etc. – as “blueprints” and not tools. Individuals need to be “EQUIPPED” with tools to build, monitor, intervene, enforce, detect, implement, rally, connect-the-dots and prevent preventable incidents such as bullying, cyberbullying, dropouts, depression, suicides, violence, substance abuse, criminal records and other preventable consequences.
To learn more about EQUIPPING your school, click here.
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Bullying Prevention Requirements: Does Your School Pass the Test?
Posted In Campus Safety, Education, Incident Reporting, School Safety on September 27th, 2011 Tags: bullying, bullying prevention, Bullying Reporting, Dr. Scott Poland, Incident Reporting, OCR, School Safety, Tehachapi Unified School District
Is your school prepared to respond accordingly to reports of bullying and harassment? Are you prepared to investigate, stop, prevent, eliminate hostile environments, take appropriate actions and document your actions? Are your school leaders aware of the different types of bullying that may be creating hostile learning environments in your school?
Studies show for students to achieve academically, they must feel secure and comfortable in their learning environment. A recent study from the University of Virginia revealed the academic performance of students in schools with persistent bullying may suffer because students are less engaged in learning due to fears about bullying or a greater level of school disorder.
According to recent statistics, up to 33 percent of students are being bullied each year and 60 percent of teachers/staff are witnessing bullying two or more times in a month.
Let’s do the math. If you have 3,000 students, then approximately 1,000 or so students could be facing bullying issues … are you taking appropriate actions? If you have 200 teachers and 60 percent of them are witnessing bullying twice a month that could be 240 incidents a month or 2,160 incidents a school year. Are your students and teachers reporting ongoing incidents and do you have the documentation and legal-ready documentation to prove you have taken the appropriate follow-up actions?
On October 6, 2010, the OCR “Dear Colleague” letter sent to all schools clearly defined all schools who know or reasonably should know about student bullying/harassment must:
- Investigate the incident
- Take immediate action to stop the harassment
- Take action to prevent the recurrence of harassment
- Eliminate the hostile environment
- Address its effects
- Take appropriate actions to revise policies and re-train students, faculty, staff and parents
With the new school year underway, the Department of Justice and Department of Education have made it clear that the OCR requirements will be enforced. Consider that a seven-month investigation at Tehachapi Unified School District is being called a landmark case with serious and expensive consequences for school boards and administrators. On July 1, 2011, a “resolution agreement” concluded that TUSD “did not adequately investigate or otherwise respond” to claims of bullying/harassment which led to the suicide of a 13-year old student.
On July 5, 2011 the student’s mother filed a lawsuit naming the school district, the superintendent, the principal, the vice principal and four teachers, seeking compensation for wrongful death damages, medical expenses and punitive damages. Several lawsuits have been filed at a Minnesota school district after seven students committed suicide in one year and a federal investigation is pending.
School leaders across the nation have been put on notice. And because most schools are already dealing with fiscal challenges, schools cannot afford suicides, undocumented incidents, federal investigations, and lawsuits. Therefore, prevention must become a top priority and prevention is more critical now than ever before.
How is your school encouraging students and parents to proactively report bullying/harassment and ensuring that all actions taken are documented with legal due diligence to meet ongoing OCR requirements? Are your school and community leaders preventing the preventable?
Based on studies, incidents and lawsuits, Awareity, Inc. has developed an innovative prevention platform that is helping school leaders take appropriate actions and document all actions taken for compliance and legal due diligence. TIPS (Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services) provides schools with the tools to empower students, parents, staff, faculty, community members, etc. to report suspicious incidents, warning signs, red flags, etc. TIPS also empowers safety team members to easily and securely access incident reports, share documents, set reminders and document they have taken the required and appropriate actions and responses to meet OCR guidelines.
According to bullying and suicide prevention expert, Dr. Scott Poland, “TIPS is truly the most comprehensive incident management system available for K12 schools to not only receive anonymous reports from their students and parents, but ensure all appropriate personnel are notified to connect the dots and determine the most effective response. TIPS is helping school districts proactively prevent the preventable – suicides, bullying, violence, truancy, depression and more.”
Cross-posted from the Public School Risk Insistute – Prevention Link
http://app.targetsafety.com/tsapp/dashboard/pl_fb/index.cfm?fuseaction=c_pl_fc.showArticle&blogID=2112
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The Next Federal Investigation – Minnesota School District
Posted In Campus Safety, Education, Education, Legal, School Safety on July 20th, 2011 Tags: Anoka-Hennepin, bullying, Bullying Incident Report, bullying lawsuit, Cyberbullying, deliberate indifference, Harassment, Notre Dame, OCR Dear Colleague, Seth Walsh, Tehachapi Unified School District
In case you missed it, federal authorities are investigating “incidents involving harassment and bullying” in Minnesota’s largest school district.
The civil rights investigation is underway in Anoka-Hennepin, a suburban Minneapolis school district, and based on the seven-month “landmark federal investigation” that recently ended involving Tehachapi Unified School District in California, the Office of Civil Rights is serious about protecting the rights and safety of students.
School leaders at every school in the U.S. should be taking a serious look at their ability to prevent the preventable involving harassment, bullying, cyber bullying and other alarming trends in schools. School leaders should review their ability to prove they are following guidance outlined in the October 26, 2010 Office of Civil Rights Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), because recent resolution agreements make it clear the OCR is enforcing the DCL that was sent to K-12 schools and Higher Education institutions too. (A federal investigation was just completed at Notre Dame too)
One suicide is one too many! The federal investigations at Tehachapi and Notre Dame involved student suicides and at Anoka-Hennepin, there have been a string of 7 suicides in less than 2 years.
Now is the time to lead by example, not with words or new policies.
Now is the time to replace outdated status quo methodologies with 21st century platforms that empower schools (leaders, faculty, staff, students, parents, community members, etc.) to prevent the preventable.
Now is the time to start doing more than the minimum necessary.
Now is the time to start listening, investigating, intervening, preventing and making a difference.
To request Awareity’s 3 page Executive Briefing on the recent Landmark Investigation to share with your schools leaders and administrators, please visit: http://www.awareity.com/public/briefingrequest.asp
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Fighting Bullying with Lawsuits
Posted In Campus Safety, Education, Education, Incident Reporting, Regulatory Compliance, Research, School Safety, Validations on April 19th, 2011 Tags: bullying, Bullying Lawsuits, OCR "Dear Colleague" Letter
Lawsuits targeting school districts for allowing students to be bullied by other students are escalating.
Lessons Learned: With new guidelines outlined in an OCR “Dear Colleague” Letter and an increase in bullying, harassment, discrimination and school violence, schools need to be aware of the potential risk of lawsuits. School leaders must ensure all individuals (staff, faculty, parents, students, counselors, etc.) understand their roles and responsibilities for preventing and responding to bullying and how to report incidents of bullying. Schools must implement comprehensive and ongoing protocols for responding to ALL incidents of bullying and cyber bullying with legal-ready documentation to avoid “deliberate indifference” claims and lawsuits.
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