Bullying
Bullying is defined as any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act(s) or conduct, including electronic communications committed by a pupil(s) that has, or can be reasonably predicted to have, the effect of one or more of the following:
- Reasonable fear of harm to person or property.
- Substantially detrimental effect on physical or mental health.
- Substantial interference with academic performance.
- Substantial interference with the ability to participate in or benefit from school services, activities, or privileges.
Young people are continuously developing their social skills and often experience conflicts with one another. Not every conflict is an incident of bullying. Bullying involves the following factors:
- The behavior must be intended to cause harm.
- There must be a real or perceived imbalance of physical or psychological power between those involved.
- The behavior must be repeated over time and include the use of hurtful words and/or acts.
Bullying can be manifested in a variety of forms that include, but are not 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: ejecting, 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
Reporting Bullying
The William S. Hart Union High School District expects students and staff to immediately report incidents of bullying to the Principal, Assistant Principal, or other campus authority. Students may request that their name be kept in confidence to the extent allowed by law. Staff members are expected to immediately intervene when they become aware of an incident involving bullying. Each report will be promptly investigated and resolved in accordance to Education Code and local laws.
California Department of Education
Assembly Bill 2291 requires that all school districts adopt procedures for prevent acts of bullying, including cyberbullying. It requires that the California Department of Education post a list of available online training modules relating to bullying or bullying prevention. As such, the California Department of Education has developed bullying prevention training materials, publications, and resources, including community-based organizations for educators, parents, and community members for recognizing bullying behavior and approaches for determining how to respond.
Please click here to be directed to this statewide resource.