• School Staff are Here to Help!

    Establishing a collaborative partnership with school staff is a key step in helping to correct concerning behaviors. Due to the emotions involved with bullying, a parent's first reaction may be to point fingers at school staff that they aren't doing anything about it. It is important to keep in mind that on the surface, it may look like not much is being done; however, school staff have policies and procedures they have to follow including protecting the privacy of the student who is bullying. That means they can't share the action they are taking with the other student(s) involved. 
     
    Instead of pointing fingers and demanding that action be taken, set up a meeting where as a team you discuss an action plan and bring ideas to the table for resolution. 

    Reporting Process

    Many times when parents call or come to the school because they feel their child is being bullied, it is the first time school staff are hearing of the incident. A child may tell a parent that their teacher saw the incident occur, so a parent immediately wants to know what action is being taken. However, unless that same teacher or staff member witnesses similar incidents occurring numerous times and the child tells the teacher (or visually it clearly is) an unwanted interaction, it may be viewed as friendly horseplay.

    That's why having a student and/or parent report the concerning behavior immediately is key to getting the problem resolved. Here are the steps a student/parent should take:
    1. Document the concerning incident including the date, time, location, people involved and what happened
    2. Review the definition of what bullying is, and if you feel what occurred fits the definition, move forward in reporting the incident
    3. Report the alleged acts within 24 hours to the building principal (this can be verbally, but it is highly suggested to use the concerning behavior form, also available in the school's office)
    4. Within 3 days of receiving the report, the principal will start an investigation
    5. Upon completion of an investigation that determines that bullying behavior occurred, the principal will take appropriate action
    6. The principal will notify the parent(s) of the student who is the target of the bullying and the parent(s) of the alleged student doing the bullying of the action taken, if a report has been received and the investigation confirmed bullying has taken place
     
    If you feel this process isn't being followed by the School Principal, your next step is to contact the Superintendent.