Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights
Anti Bullying Representative
- Ariel Cadet (HIB Specialist)
Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights (A-3466/S-2392, Vainieri Huttle/Buono)
Provisions Impacting Students and Schools
By law, New Jersey school districts are required to implement policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB). Recent legislation which passed the Assembly and Senate on November 22 (the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, A-3466/S-2392 (Vainieri Huttle/Buono): requires training for all school employees on school, climate, harassment, bullying and intimidation, establishes stringent investigation and reporting guidelines for schools; and requires new school safety or climate teams. The East Orange School District has been providing extensive training in this direction.
Listed below are some guidelines/facts on bullying:
WHAT IS BULLYING?
Bullying among children is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power and strength. Typically, it is repeated over time. Bullying can take many forms such as hitting or punching (physical bullying); teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying); intimidation through gestures or social exclusion (non-verbal bullying or emotional bullying); and using technology to send insulting, or threatening messages (cyber-bullying).
DIFFERENT FORMS OR KINDS OF BULLYING:
- Being verbally bullied
- Being socially excluded or isolated
- Being physically bullied
- Having money or other things taken or damaged
- Racial bullying
- Sexual bullying
- Cyber-bullying
HOW PREVALANT IS BULLYING?
In the first nationally representative US study of bullying, which included more than 15,000 students in grades 6-10, researchers found that 17% of students reported having been bullied "sometimes" or more often during the school term, and 8% had been bullied at least once a week. Nineteen percent had bullied others "sometimes" or more often during the term, and 9% had bullied other students at least once a week- (Olweus, 1993).
CONSEQUENCES OF BULLYINGStresses of being bullied can interfere with student's engagement and learning in school (NEA TODAY, 1999)
Children and youth who are bullied are more likely than other children to be depressed, lonely, anxious, have low self-esteem, feel unwell, and think about suicide (Limber, 2002; Olweus, 1993)
Students who are bullied may fear going to school, using the bathroom, and riding on the bus (NEA, 2003)
In a survey of 3rd – 8th graders in 14 Massachusetts schools, more than 14% reported that they were often afraid of being bullied (Mullin-Rindler, 2003)
Res arch shows that bullying can be a sign of other anti-social or violent behavior. Children and youth who frequently bully their peers are more likely than others to get into frequent fights, be injured in a fight, vandalize or steal property.
Drink alcohol, smoke, be truant from school, drop out of school, and carry a weapon (Nansel et al; 200, Olweus, 1993)
Bullying also has an impact on other students at school who are bystanders to bullying (Banks, 1997). bullying creates a climate of fear and disrespect in schools and has a negative impact on student learning (NEA, 2003)