Click here to find your School District's HIB Compliance Officer. Every district is required to identify a person responsible for being a primary point of contact, and making sure the district complies with its anti-harassment, intimidation and bullying policy. That person is called the “ HIB Compliance Officer .”.
Texas school district policies must establish the actions a student should take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying and must set out the available counseling options for a student who is a victim of or a witness to bullying or who engages in bullying.
Mar 25, 2012 · Document, Document, Document. Write down your child's account of the incident (s) of bullying. Record as much detail as possible, since memory tends to be short and details can get easily and ...
How the school must respond: Once the school knows that bullying is impacting FAPE, they must take steps to stop the bullying. They must also take steps to prevent the bullying from happening again. The school must call an IEP meeting to talk about how the bullying has impacted his education. The team must discuss whether he needs additional services to remedy the …
Texas anti-bullying laws and regulations include the following definitions of bullying and cyberbullying:
Yes. Texas anti-bullying laws cover off-campus conduct that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school-related activity if the cyberbullying:
Texas school districts are required to adopt a policy concerning bullying. School district policies must contain key policy and procedural elements, including, but not limited to:
No. There are no specific groups listed under Texas anti-bullying laws or regulations.
Yes.
Yes. Texas anti-bullying law encourage districts to include information of preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting incidents of bullying in district staff development programs.
Yes. Texas school district policies must establish the actions a student should take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying and must set out the available counseling options for a student who is a victim of or a witness to bullying or who engages in bullying.
Getting a handle on bullying in schools is a complex challenge that leaves many educators feeling overwhelmed and helpless. More often than they would care to admit, the teacher who downplays an incident of bullying is the teacher who simply has no idea how to handle the problem in his classroom.
A parent's best strategy for countering bullying is to reach out to as many people as necessary to make sure that the bullying comes to an end. If you have reached out to your child's teacher and received a bland, disinterested, or downplayed response, do not be deterred.
The point I make most strongly is that it takes a tremendous amount of courage for most kids to talk with their parents about being the target of bullying. It is such a deeply painful and humiliating experience that even kids with the most trusting relationship with their parents find their victimization hard to reveal. Therefore, when kids do talk about being bullied, it is imperative that parents honor the courageous act of sharing and become their child's champion.
Bullying among school-aged children is widely regarded as an epidemic problem in the United States. If there were an easy solution to the problem, it would have been suggested and implemented long ago. You wouldn't be thinking about it and I wouldn't be writing about it.
How the school must respond: Once the school knows that bullying is impacting FAPE, they must take steps to stop the bullying. They must also take steps to prevent the bullying from happening again. The school must call an IEP meeting to talk about how the bullying has impacted his education .
According to federal and most state laws, if a school even suspects bullying, it must investigate. For instance, if a teacher sees kids making fun of another child because she can’t read, the teacher must report it. The school must look into the situation, even if the child hasn’t said anything.
If your child is being bullied at school, the first line of defense is your state’s anti-bullying law. All 50 states have anti-bullying laws. These laws often have the strongest protections for students. And they can help put an immediate stop to the bullying.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees kids with the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). IDEA requires a school to act if bullying interferes with a child’s FAPE. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 also guarantees kids the right to FAPE.
Bullying that’s based on a child’s disability: If the bullying causes a “hostile environment” — meaning the bullying is serious enough to cause the child not to participate in some aspect at school — the school must act. Any child with a disability is covered. Here are some example scenarios.
If bullying interferes with FAPE for a child with a 504 plan, the school must act. Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) both prohibit discrimination at school against kids with disabilities, which can include kids with learning and thinking differences.
Example of bullying that denies a child’s FAPE: A child with has an IEP and receives specialized reading instruction. Other kids start making fun of him because his family is low-income. The bullying makes the child feel ashamed. As a result, he stops coming to school and doesn’t see the reading specialist.
Bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. The imbalance of power involves the use of physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity to control or harm others.
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets, as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites.
State antibullying laws generally require schools to take specific steps in response to bullying, including disciplinary proceedings for the bullies that could lead to suspension or even expulsion from school.
damaging or stealing belongings. demanding money, and. spreading rumors about someone or telling other students not to be friends with them. Most schools have policies that define bullying, but they can differ in specifics, depending on local school policies.
Bullying can take many forms, including: 1 cyberbullying or sexual harassment (more on those below) 2 teasing or name-calling 3 shoving, hitting, tripping, hair-pulling, or any other kind of physical assault 4 threatening 5 hazing —forcing another student to do something humiliating or dangerous, often as part of initiation into a club or sports team 6 damaging or stealing belongings 7 demanding money, and 8 spreading rumors about someone or telling other students not to be friends with them.
Bullying can take many forms, including: cyberbullying or sexual harassment (more on those below) teasing or name-calling. shoving, hitting, tripping, hair-pulling, or any other kind of physical assault. threatening.
First of all, it’s important to recognize that bullying can have serious, long-term effects on your child, from skipping school and dropping grades to anxiety and depression. To avoid risking these consequences, experts recommend that you don’t ignore the problem or hope that the children will work it out among themselves.
Also, a lawyer could give you information about the possibility of filing a civil case against the bully for any harm any that was caused, or of suing the school district. Lawyers with extensive juvenile court experience should be well-suited to evaluate a situation involving bullying.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Referral Service to report hate crimes and discrimination complaints. National Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 273-8255.
Additional warning signs of bullying and abuse in non-verbal children may include: Social withdrawal. Avoidance of certain places or people.
Bullying increases the risk of depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, poor grades, and self-harm, including suicide. ². Parents have the right to expect their child’s school to be a safe environment. Here’s what you can do if your child is being bullied at school.
Physical bullying is a form of physical assault. Physical bullying involves physical aggression, such as pushing, slapping, punching, hair-pulling, tripping and hitting with objects, like school books. Physical bullying also includes restraining a child, pulling or tearing at clothing, and throwing objects or bodily fluids at a child.
There are no current federal laws specifically aimed at bullying. However, students who are bullied because of their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity are protected under federal civil rights laws.
Cyberbullying consists of the use of social media to willfully, viciously and maliciously harass a student, whether by posting unflattering and compromising photographs, making derogatory, demeaning, or hurtful remarks, or to otherwise abuse, belittle, or harass another student.
Schools and Sovereign Immunity. In some states, it is not possible to sue any government entity, including a public school. This immunity from lawsuits is referred to as sovereign immunity, and it protects school districts from lawsuits associated with bullying. In 1946, the federal government passed the Federal Tort Claims Act waiving sovereign ...
If the school does not take steps to correct the problem, or if you are uncomfortable talking with school staff, you can also file a complaint. There are three kinds of complaints: 1 A formal Uniform Complaint Procedure (UCP) complaint. A UCP complaint is filed with your school district and can be appealed to the California Department of Education. 2 A formal California Attorney General (AG) complaint. An AG complaint about school bullying or harassment is filed with the California Bureau of Children’s Justice. 3 A formal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) complaint. An OCR complaint is filed directly with the federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Bullying or harassment is especially harmful when students are bullied due to actual or perceived characteristics such as race or ethnicity, ancestry, color, ethnic group identification, gender expression, gender identity, gender, disability, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, age, or a person’s association with a person or group.
Parents and guardians play a critical role in helping students recognize signs of bullying or harassment and doing something about it . For example, students who are being harassed or bullied often act differently—clothes may be torn or a student may be less interested in school work.
An OCR complaint is filed directly with the federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. In California, anyone can file a complaint to report harassment or bullying. A complaint can be filed on your behalf or on behalf of someone else or be anonymous.
YES. Schools must step in and address bullying or harassment. However, a school should NOT automatically suspend or expel the bullying student, since that is often not the most effective way to stop or prevent bullying and harassment. (See our handout on the dangers of “ zero tolerance policies .”)
YES. Bullying is not the victim’s fault. Students often feel fearful, hurt, or ashamed, and need encouragement to discuss bullying. Students should talk to people they trust when experiencing bullying such as parents, administrators, and other trusted adults or friends can provide support.