In January, Gov. Chris Christie signed the toughest anti-bullying law in the country. The “Anti-bullying Bill of Rights” eliminates loopholes in the state’s first anti-bullying law, enacted in 2002, when districts were encouraged but not required to establish anti-bullying programs. The mandate – which gained steam after the suicide of a Rutgers University freshman after a bullying incident – is now clear.
The law is intended to strengthen the standards and procedures for preventing, reporting, investigating and responding to incidents of “Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying” (HIB). It requires training for most public school teachers, administrators and other employees on how to spot bullying. A district “Anti-bullying Coordinator” must be selected, as well as a team of “school anti-bullying specialists” charged with fostering a positive school climate.
A “School Safety Team” will review claims. School districts will be graded by the state on their efforts to combat the bullying problem.
Bullying is defined as any gesture or written, verbal or physical act or electronic communication that substantially disrupts or interferes with the operations of the school district or the rights of others. It is “insulting and demeaning” behavior that creates a hostile environment.
If a school employee is made aware of an incident – in or out of school –that meets HIB criteria, a thorough investigation must follow. Administrators who do not investigate reported incidents would be disciplined, while students who bully could be suspended or expelled.
Last Thursday, Ocean City school district employees listened as Superintendent Kathleen Taylor discussed the importance of following the new law to the letter. Any incident of bullying must be verbally reported by the end of the day; it must be in writing within two days.
“There are very strict, very tight timelines,” Taylor said. “We are working on a lot of things. It’s very hard to define what is and what is not bullying.”
The district had a bullying program in place. The new law means that the program has to be revamped.
Taylor said she would present a program to the school board for approval at the Sept. 28 school board meeting. “We have practices in place. This new law brings bullying to the forefront.”
“The state has put a great deal of emphasis on prevention,” Taylor said. “It’s important that any incident is reported and handled. The bulk of the law focuses on prevention. The idea is to stop bullying before it starts.
“Kids that bully need to know the impact,” she said. Sometimes, she said, students are not aware of the toll that bullying takes on the victim.
Victims, she said, should be comfortable and free to confide in a trusted adult if they are bullied.
“Many times with harassment, intimidation and bullying, you have a number of bystanders – they may see this happening but don’t know what to do,” said Taylor. “The idea is to support bystanders, and set up a school culture where bullying is not a cool thing. We need to get children to understand that if you are a victim or you see bullying, you cannot keep quiet. Every school district has to have a program to deal with this. It’s very involved.”
Taylor said the ramifications go beyond the walls of the school building and much farther than the school day. Bullying occurs anywhere, anytime, and the state is holding the school liable for HIB incidents no matter where they occur.
“If a child is at a birthday party on a Saturday and someone bullies them, and they come into school on Monday and tell someone about it, it has to be reported and investigated,” Taylor said. “It’s very involved. Everyone who deals with the school, every staff member, every volunteer, everyone who comes in here will have to be trained.
“We have to make everyone aware that they have a responsibility,” she said. “Everyone in the community has a responsibility. It’s a very strict law and we are going to have to comply with it. Parents are going to have to understand, we may have to investigate an incident that took place out of school. We will have to have programs for parents too.”
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