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Bullying

Bullying/Cyberbullying

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
  • Substantial 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.
  1. Bullying involves a power imbalance - students who bully are more powerful than students targeted as their victims because of an advantage of age, size, ability, social status, peer support, etc. Students who bully others may also have power if they harass or provoke other students about a sensitive concern (e.g. being short, overweight, or about race, family or sexuality).

  2. Students who bully harass on purpose – their behaviors are not accidental.

  3. Bullying is not fun for the victimized students who experience distress and may feel: angry, anxious, fearful, sad, embarrassed, and ashamed.

  4. Students who are victims of bullying often feel unsafe at school and try to avoid going to school.

  5. Bullying happens over and over again.

What are the Types of Bullying?

Direct (Face-to-Face)

  • Verbal (teasing, insults, put-downs, harassment)
  • Psychological (making a mean face, rolling your eyes, “dirty looks,” uttering threats, extortion)
  • Indirect (Behind Someone’s Back)
  • Gossip (lowering people’s opinions about the victimized student)
  • Leaving out, exclusion, shunning
  • Social aggression (telling people not to be friends with a victimized student)
  • Cyber (Use of electronic technology as a vehicle for bullying and harassing)
  • Sending threatening or harassing emails or instant messages
  • Creating a website that belittles or ridicules another student
  • Taking unflattering or inappropriate pictures of other students without their permission and sharing them with others or posting them on an internet site
  • Stealing someone’s password and sending mean messages to others
  • Tricking someone into sharing sensitive personal information while instant messaging and then forwarding that information to others.

How are Students Involved in Bullying?
Students play many roles in a bullying situation:
Student who is considered a bully and bullies others - often bully more than one student.
Student who is a victim of bullying - usually only one student.
Bystanders- students who are close enough to see and hear the bullying behavior.
Intervenors- students who do something to “Put the Brakes on Bullying.”

REPORT IT

Any person that has been a victim of, or witnessed discrimination, intimidation, bullying or harassment on school grounds, during school activities, or going to and coming from school is highly encouraged to report the incident immediately to counselor, administrator, or other adult personnel on campus using the Bullying/Harassment Reporting form located at the school. For concerns regarding Bullying and Harassment, which cannot be remedied at the school sites level, you should immediately contact Dr. Rigoberto Roman, Director, Pupil Services, at (310) 604-6527, 2300 W. Caldwell Street, Room E-5, Compton, CA 90220 Email: rroman@compton.k12.ca.us. Students have an option of reporting the incident anonymously using the Bullying/Harassment Complaint form located at the school or online on CUSD webpage under ‘Upstander’.  Retaliation and/or witness intimidation will not be tolerated.

Report it Online

INVESTIGATION

The principal or designee shall promptly investigate all complaints of bullying or sexual harassment. The student who filed the complaint shall have an opportunity to describe the incident, present witnesses and other evidence of the bullying or harassment and put his/her complaint in writing. Within 10 school days of the reported incident, the principal or designee shall present a written report to the student who filed the complaint and the accused individual.  The report shall include his/her findings, decision, and reason for the decision.  If the student disagrees with the outcome of the investigation, an appeal can be filed with Patrick Sullivan, Director, Human Resources at (310) 604-6721, 501 South Santa Fe Ave., Compton, CA 90221

Email: dsullivan@compton.k12.ca.us

TRANSFER REQUEST

A Student that has been found to be the victim of a violent offense or bullying as defined by state law is entitled to transfer to another school within or outside the District, under California Education Code 46600(b).  Placement at a requested school is contingent upon space availability. Transfer requests can be obtained at the Pupil Services Department, 2300 W. Caldwell Street, Room E-4, Compton, CA 90220.

Bystander Intervention

Bullying rarely occurs in the absence of bystanders. Peers are present in about 85% of bullying episodes in school settings and up to 92% of elementary school students report having observed instances of bullying in their schools. In short, bullying is a group phenomenon.

The majority of bystanders do nothing to help the victims of bullying. If the bullying student is popular and has social status, bystanders may encourage the bullying, especially if the bystanders do not like the victimized student. When bystanders do intervene, bullying stops within 10 seconds more than half (57%) of the time.

Classrooms Display

From our Olweus' Bully Prevention Program the students establish the following rules:

    1. We shall not bully others.

    2. We shall try to and help those who are bullied.

    3. We shall make it a point to include students who are easily left out.

    4. Our Anti-Bullying Anti-Harassment Posters in English and Spanish

Excerpts from Teach Safe Schools & Olweus Bully Prevention program


Be an Upstander Not a Bystander: Report all Bullying

Project Connect

CYBERBULLYING

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is a type of meanness that occurs online, in which one or more individuals use digital technologies to intentionally and repeatedly cause harm to another person. Cyberbullies attack their victims by posting comments, pictures, photos, texts, emails, or instant messages on social media, group chats, mobile devices, computers or other electronic devices.  Many of these messages are embarrassing, malicious, intimidating, harassing, shameful and/or mean.

We don't necessarily know why kids bully or cyberbully; what we do know is that cyberbullying is the deliberate, persistent and malicious use of words or pictures in an online environment intended to cause harm to someone’s wellbeing.

What does Cyberbullying look like?

Cyberbullying amongst teens comes in many forms but the most common are:

  • receiving intentionally hurtful text messages, emails or direct messages on social media sites

  • people spreading rumors or lies about someone online

  • people sending images or videos intended to humiliate or embarrass someone

  • people sending threats to someone

  • people setting up and using fake online profiles to embarrass or intimidate someone.

Cyberbullying is most commonly done through social media. While social media is a great way to keep in touch with friends, how easy it is to use and access means that cyberbullying on social media can be common. Learn more about keeping your teen safe on social media.

How is it different to other forms of bullying?

Bullying is a kind of behavior that is designed to cause intentional harm. Cyberbullying can be even more distressing because of its very public and uncontrollable nature. For example:

  • there’s no limit to who can view or take part in cyberbullying

  • it can be very difficult to remove content shared online

  • it can be anonymous

  • content can be accessed through search engines

It’s hard for people to escape the bullying, especially if they use technology in their everyday lives. It’s suggested that young people can be more likely to bully someone online than they would in real-life, as they feel less accountable for their actions due to the nature of the online world.

What are the effects of cyberbullying?

The effects of cyberbullying on teenagers can range from:

  • lower school attendance and performance

  • increased stress and anxiety

  • feelings of isolation and fear

  • poor concentration

  • depression

  • decreased self-esteem and confidence
  • in extreme cases the cyberbullying can lead to suicide.

The effects of cyberbullying are similar to the effects of bullying, but the main difference is that it's much harder to avoid, because it can follow your teen home from school and make them feel like they'll never be able to escape it. Make sure your child knows it's not their fault, they're not alone, and that there are ways to deal with cyberbullying.  If you've noticed some warning signs in your teenager's behavior, you might be worried that they're thinking about suicide. Read more about how talk to your teen about suicide here.

Parents: Keep your Teenager Safe Online

Only around 1 in 10 young people inform a parent or trusted adult of cyberbullying. Some reasons for this low number include embarrassment, fear of not being believed, fear of having the issue trivialized, or losing access to technology. Taking proactive steps to educate your child about what they can do about cyberbullying can be a good way to ensure they approach you for support when they need it.

  • Ensure that your child’s social media accounts are set to private, and that they only accept friend requests from people they know in real life.

  • Chat with your teen about not sharing personal information online. For example, passwords, their full name, address, phone number and what school the go to.

  • Chat with your teenager about sharing photos online, especially risqué ones. Explain that once they’re online they can lose control of who sees them pretty quickly and that can lead to name-calling and shaming unfortunately.

  • Remind them to ignore messages from people they don’t know. The internet can be a great place to make new friends but it is still super important to be extra cautious due to fake accounts and trolls

  • Make sure they know that cyberbullying is wrong and they shouldn’t do it. If your teenager engages in this sort of behavior online it may open doors for people to think they have an excuse to cyberbully your child.

  • Ensure that your child knows how to block, delete or report anyone who is upsetting them online.

As much as your teen might enjoy being online, it’s important to get them engaged in offline activities. That way if something does happen online they have other things to do that they enjoy and other friends to talk to.

What to do if your child is being cyberbullied

If you know your child is being cyberbullied, the first thing to do is to be supportive and empathetic. Make sure that they know it’s not their fault. Cyberbullying is serious and upsetting, so try not to minimize or trivialize the situation in order to make your child ‘feel better’. Avoid the temptation to stop your child going online at all; this will more likely result in them not telling you if it occurs again.

Support your child with cyberbullying emotionally

  • Speak to your child and really listen to what they have to say. Thank them for opening up to you, and let them know that you want to put an end to the bullying.

  • Never blame your child for experiencing cyberbullying. The way young people interact online may seem excessive to adults, but bullying is never the fault of the person being bullied.

  • Acknowledge their feelings and don’t try to dismiss their experiences, even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal to you.

  • Reassure them that there are people who can offer support, whether this is you, their teachers or other professionals and services.

If you need cyberbullying material removed or want to report it

If there are any videos, photos or comments being used to harm your teen, the fastest way to get them removed is to report it. Most sites and apps allow you to report offensive content through settings, help or privacy. Individual posts and comments also have a ‘...’ feature that you click and use to report. If you’re having trouble finding where to report cyberbullying, check out the eSafety guide. If you haven’t heard back within 48 hours and the cyberbullying is causing serious harm to your teen’s wellbeing, you can make a report to eSafety

If you need more information on how to address cyberbullying situations and for general cyberbullying safety tips, learn how to deal with online bullying here..

What to do if your child feels unsafe

If your child feels unsafe, for example if someone is threatening them or your family, call the police on 000 to get help. If your child is distressed about the bullying, encourage them to speak to a mental health professional, or direct them to services that can help. This may be a school counsellor, or a service like Kids Helpline.

Bullying and Cyberbullying Prevention https://www.stopbullying.gov/

If you notice warning signs that a child may be involved in cyberbullying, take steps to investigate that child’s digital behavior. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying, and adults should take the same approach to address it: support the child being bullied, address the bullying behavior of a participant, and show children that cyberbullying is taken seriously. Because cyberbullying happens online, responding to it requires different approaches. If you think that a child is involved in cyberbullying, there are several things you can do:

  • Notice – Recognize if there has been a change in mood or behavior and explore the cause. Try to determine if these changes happen around a child’s use of their digital devices.

  • Talk – Ask questions to learn what is happening, how it started, and who is involved.

  • Document – Keep a record of what is happening and where. Take screenshots of harmful posts or content if possible. Most laws and policies note that bullying is a repeated behavior, so records help to document it.

  • Report – Most social media platforms and schools have clear policies and reporting processes. If a classmate is cyberbullying, report it to the school. You can also contact apps or social media platforms to report offensive content and have it removed. If a child has received physical threats or a potential crime or illegal behavior occurs, report it to the police.

  • Support – Peers, mentors, and trusted adults can sometimes intervene publicly to positively influence a situation where negative or hurtful content posts about a child. Public Intervention can include posting positive comments about the person targeted with bullying to try to shift the conversation in a positive direction. It can also help to reach out to the child who is bullying and the target of the bullying to express your concern. If possible, try to determine if more professional support is needed for those involved, such as speaking with a guidance counselor or mental health professional.

For more information on bullying or sexual harassment, please visit StopBullying.gov

CDE COMPILED RESOURCES- BULLYING PREVENTION TRAINING & RESOURCES

The California Department of Education compiled a list of resources that provide support to youths and their families who have been subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying.  Click here to view.

bpu-poster-pack-implementation

 

What is BRIM Anti-Bullying System?
As part of our school's commitment to making Compton Unified Schools a bully-free environment, we utilize BRIM Anti-Bullying Software (www.antibullyingsoftware.com), an online tool that enables students and parents to safely and anonymously report bullying and harassment incidents online.

 

What to do if You Experience Cyberbullying?

Education Equity Contacts 

Equity Compliance Officer
Dr. Rigoberto Roman
Director; Pupil Services
2300 W. Caldwell Street, Compton 310-639-4321 X46527
rroman@compton.k12.ca.us

TITLE IX COORDINATOR

Patrick Sullivan, Director of Human Resources, 501 Santa Fe Ave., Compton, CA 90221, Telephone: (310) 639-4321
Ext, 55041

dsullivan@compton.k12.ca.us

504 Coordinator
JaMaiia Bond
Senior Director, Pupil Services
2300 W. Caldwell Street, Compton 310-639-4321 X46523 jbond@compton.k12.ca.us