The Anti-Violence Project of Massachusetts(formerly the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project) released this information about some much-needed public safety legislation which needs to move through the House by 7/31/08. Spread the word! And for those who think protecting youth from harassment is misguided social engineering, I ask only that you review the findings of the 2002 Secret Service Commission Report on catastrophic school shootings.
Fact Sheet for S. 2637
An Act Relative to Bullying
Enacted by Senate, Pending in House Ways and Means
~ Bullying defined as “any unwelcome written or verbal expressions, physical acts or gestures directed at a student … with the intent to intimidate, frighten, humiliate, or cause physical or emotional harm to that person.”
~ Bill would require school districts to develop “a bullying prevention and intervention plan” including these components:
Policy statement against bullying;
Developmentally appropriate training for students about the consequences of bullying;
Procedures for reporting, investigating, and responding to complaints of bullying;
Disciplinary sanctions for bullying;
Designation of school official responsible for implementation of the Plan;
Annual faculty and staff trainings covering the Plan.
~ No private cause of action for students and parents is either created or abrogated.
~ Dept. of Education to develop “model bullying and prevention and intervention plan” for school districts, in collaboration with the Depts. of Public Health, Mental Health, and the Attorney General
~ Dept. of Education to compile, in consultation with the Depts. of Public Health, Mental Health, and the Attorney General, a list of bullying prevention and intervention resources, existing evidence-based programs, best practices, and academic research for use of school districts
…that a major part of the lobbying effort isn’t just passing the bill, but implementing relevant funding into the budget, right?
The legislation will lay the groundwork for even more violence prevention funding for DPH. Still bullying prevention is already a priority among school districts, state agencies, and advocacy organizations. Governor Patrick’s anti-bullying guide released last month, which is free online and in the public domain, was intended to help impecunious but safety-minded school districts to design their own customzied programs on-site.
<
p>The extra funding for GLBT youth suicide prevention added on the House floor during the budget debate will likely go, in part, to inclusive bullying prevention programs benefitting all potential targets, bystanders, and perpetrators of bullying.
When I was about 10 a local neighborhood kid started picking on me. He was relentless and I finally went to my Dad because I was sick of it.
<
p>My Dad’s response? “The next time he shoves you or hits you, punch him back.”
<
p>Well, it worked. He tried to grab me so I nailed him in the face, causing a tremendous bloody nose. He never picked on me again. In fact, we became friends later on.
<
p>All of this was accomplished without the intervention of the State.
Would love to tell my kid that.
<
p>But if he punches back, then your kid will be the one suspended for a few weeks, on account of foolish zero tolerance policies. If he’s lucky, then the principal will call the police and he’ll get arrested for battery.
<
p>The real problem is that, sometimes even with a parent or parents yelling about a problem, the school pretends everything is peachy until the problem simply cannot be ignored any longer.
I very much share your desire to significantly slash the amount of bullying that happens.
<
p>And Mr. Weebles may romanticize the ability to simply respond by popping a kid in the mouth. A) Kid is often bigger and able to kick your ass; B) Bullies often operate in group; C) In cities, a lot of kids have significant access to knives and decent access to guns.
<
p>However…..
<
p>Instead of requiring a whole bunch of inputs, what about simply creating a standard survey about school climate, administered by DOE?
<
p>I suppose they’re not mutually exclusive. But, like Sabutai above, I tend to question the mandates that get piled on schools. Bullying. Tolerance. Citizenship. Physical Health. Sexual Education. Financial knowledge.
<
p>Each sounds good.
<
p>But with lots of this stuff, it just leads to plans that get written and then go into a drawer.
<
p>* * * *
<
p>Instead, MEASURE school climate.
<
p>Ask each kid: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how safe do you feel at your school? How much bullying happens at your school?”
<
p>Publish all the findings each year.
<
p>When a school is a 4 out of 10 in safety, and a similar nearby school is a 7 out of 10, then you can bet there’s going to be some positive pressure to deal with the issue.
<
p>And if a school raises its perceived safety, then those people are going to have much higher buy-in to continuing to do the work needed to maintain the climate.
regarding school climate are included in the DOE’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, but the survey is only given every other year. The mechanism is there, and certainly the questions can be refined to get a more real-time snapshot of the Commonwealth’s schools if administered annually. We use the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to get at some of the issues in our school as well as a home-grown survey. We are experiencing some significant climate issues in my high school, so we have two committees working on the issues (climate and governance). Unfortunately, the year is winding down, so any real change will occur next year.
<
p>If you had read my post, I hit him in the nose, not the mouth.
I listened to too much Patriots coverage. Ex-player commentators love to go heavy on “hit em in the mouth.”