Bullying Prevention

The William S. Hart Union High School District believes that all students and staff have a right to a safe and healthy school environment. Wm. S. Hart UHSD considers bullying or any behavior that infringes on the safety of any other person as a serious matter that will be investigated and be subject to subsequent disciplinary action.

A student shall not intimidate or harass another person through words or actions for any reason including race, religion, or sexual orientation such that the actions substantially interfere with a student’s educational experience, create an intimidating or threatening educational environment, or disrupt the orderly operation of the school and/or the overall educational environment.

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What is Bullying?

Young people are continuously developing their social skills and often experience conflicts with one another. Every conflict between students is not an incident of bullying. Bullying is defined as aggressive behavior that involves the following factors:

1. The behavior must be intended to cause harm.
2. There must be a real or perceived imbalance of physical or psychological power between those involved.
3. The behavior must be repeated over time and include the use of hurtful words and/or acts.

Bullying behaviors may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

• Verbal - Hurtful name-calling, teasing, gossiping, making threats, making rude noises or spreading hurtful rumors.
• Nonverbal - Posturing, making gang signs, leering, staring, stalking, destroying property, using graffiti or graphic images, or exhibiting inappropriate and/or threatening gestures or actions.
• Physical - Hitting, punching, pushing, shoving, poking, kicking, tripping, strangling, hair pulling, fighting, beating, biting, spitting or destroying property.
• Emotional/Psychological - Rejecting, terrorizing, extorting, defaming, intimidating, humiliating, blackmailing, manipulating friendships, isolating, ostracizing, using peer pressure or rating or ranking personal characteristics.
• Cyber Bullying - Any bullying, harassment or intimidation when such is accomplished utilizing electronic communication media or electronic signaling devices. Such media includes, but shall not be limited to, e-mail messages, text messages, instant messages, social networking sites, and internet based video sites and postings of blogs.

• Social Media Bullying - Bullying, harassment or intimidation on social media forums including: websites, applications or platforms with free registration or ease of registration, sites that offer peer-to-peer instant messaging, sites that offer comment forums/sections, and or websites offering image or video posting platforms.

If any such activity as described above is engaged in on campus; during school sponsored activities including any sports, extra-curricular, or school related activities; or utilizing school provided technology, the individual(s) shall be subject to discipline pursuant to the school’s disciplinary policy.

Wm. S. Hart UHSD reserves the right to regulate, review, investigate and discipline students for bullying harassment, intimidation and/or cyber-bullying or any other disciplinary violations when such activities threaten violence against another student, are related to school activities, or otherwise disrupt the learning environment or orderly conduct of the school, school business or school activities.

How do I report bullying?

William S. Hart UHSD expects students and staff to immediately report incidents of bullying to the Principal, Assistant Principal or other campus authority. Students may also request that their name be kept in confidence to the extent allowed by law. Staff members are expected to immediately intervene when they see a bullying incident occur. Each complaint of bullying will be promptly investigated and resolved in accordance with school policy.

To prevent bullying on campus, William S. Hart UHSD will provide training in bullying prevention and intervention strategies to staff and students. William S. Hart UHSD may provide students with instruction in the classroom or other school settings that promotes communication, social skills and assertiveness skills.

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Bullying Prevention Resources

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