Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Bullying reporting

Posting because the only thing that makes me more furious than a little kid getting beaten up is the people who are supposed to help him not doing so.

Massachusetts now requires all school districts to have a bullying plan, and what is required within it is very specific.
You can find the information regarding bullying right off the main Worcester Public Schools page (scroll down). That brings you to this page with all the information, including an introductory letter from Superintendent Boone.
The Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan (in English) spells out what the district does to prevent bullying, and what it does should bullying occur. The district's responsibilities in response to a bullying report are (from page 8):

  • to ensure the safety of the target.
  • to notify parents or guardians (and, as needed, other school districts, and, only if needed, law enforcement)
  • to investigate all reported cases of bullying within twenty-four hours of the report being received. This will involve interviewing all those involved and witnesses.
  • to make a determination that must, if bullying is found to have occurred, ensure that a plan is put in place that is "reasonably calculated to prevent recurrence and to ensure that the target is not restricted in participating in school or in benefiting from school activities."
  • to notify parents of target and aggressor of the determination and plan within twenty-four hours of the investigation. 
Disciplinary action follows this.

The bullying report is here (in English; it is also available in SpanishPortuguese, Albanian, and Vietnamese). 
Anyone may file a report: a student, a parent, a guardian, an after school provider, a teacher, a neighbor. It can even be filed anonymously, though no disciplinary measures will follow from an anonymous report.

It need not be filed with the school principal; you can send to the School Safety office and they will investigate it. 


You do not have to "wait for it to happen again."

You do not have to "establish a pattern of behavior."

This is serious business, and if, for any reason, you feel that something is taking place that should not, turn it in.
And please encourage others to do the same. 

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