1. Evaluate Current Administrators and Supervisors:
Administrators at all levels must be motivated to implement programs that promote safe schools.
Administrators need to focus on bully prevention by:
- Researching and developing appropriate and viable programs, that match the needs of their district.
- Implementing programs in a timely and effective manner.
- Providing appropriate personnel in terms of quality and quantity; with emphasis on areas and times that are unsupervised or under supervised.
2. Develop Specific Systems to Report Threats, Violence and Bullying:
Administrators must create multiple ways to report threats such as a bully situation.
For example:
- Develop an anonymous online system and a telephone hotline; both would be manned 24/7. Constantly advertise the systems.
- Have “suggestion boxes” in each classroom and at other locations that give students the opportunity to communicate their concerns.
- Develop a blueprint of how the threat assessment system works. Create a flow chart that indicates which personnel are involved; and how information is processed. Provide multiple ways to investigate and record the information; all of which need to be done in a timely and professional, yet caring, manner.
- Formal and consistent methods should be established to elicit information about bullying.
- Establish and enforce clear consequences for students who bully.
- Establish and enforce clear consequences for students who do not report information regarding bullying and other threats of violence.
- Establish and enforce clear consequences for personnel who do not report information regarding bullying and other threatening behaviors (similar to child abuse mandates.)
3. Establish a system of rewards that positively reinforces pro-social behaviors.
- Rewards should be given to those adults and students who truly and meaningfully achieve anti-bullying goals stated herein.
- Reward bystanders for intervening or reporting bullying.
- Reward teachers for establishing bully-free classrooms.
- Reward support staff for reporting appropriate information; i.e. as is done with tip lines.
4. Train Entire Staff; including but not limited to administration, security personnel, teachers, coaches, bus drivers, aides, cleaning staff, etc; to:
- Recognize symptoms of bullying.
- Report bullying.
- Know how to intervene during a bullying.
- Help victims of bullying.
- Prevent bullying.
5. Create a Team of Interventionists; whose duties are to implement and maintain programs that support safe schools and reduce bullying and anti-social behaviors.
This team will include:
- Psychologists who are trained and able to respond to and assess victims when an incident occurs; and to provide services as necessary.
- Guidance counselors or Social workers who are able to respond to and assess the needs of groups; such as classes, parents, etc. effected by an event. They too, would provide services as needed.
- Administrators who liaison with outside agencies such as police, medical, legal and media. This group establishes calm and control; provides news and information, and is responsible for the team.
6. Create Bullying Education Programs for All Students and Parents:
- Education begins the moment the student joins the school. At that time age-appropriate information on appropriate school behaviors including bullying and its consequences should be provided to each student and in a separate mailing, to the parents of each student.
- Pro-social programs including bullying prevention education should continue throughout the year, with an emphasis on rewarding bystanders for reporting and/or protecting victims.
- Bullying education should explain the roles and responsibilities of victims, bystanders and perpetrators of bullying. Consequences should be clear and appropriate depending on the circumstances.
- Teachers and coaches should learn how to integrate pro-social/ anti-bullying education throughout their curriculum.
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Games such as “what would you do?” that involve social dilemmas would be integrated into the regular and special programs of the school and community.
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Attention needs to be given to older students who may be encouraging or modeling bully behaviors.
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In almost every subject, relevant information can be delivered that positively reinforces a respectful, caring environment that positively reinforces breaking the code of silence.
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7. Empower bystanders:
- To intervene in bullying, either by reporting information, or where possible, by helping victims of bullying, or by influencing perpetrators to stop bullying;
- Train bystanders on how to intervene as individuals and as a group; and
- Make bystanders responsible for not reporting a bullying.
8. Eliminate the Second bullying:
- Educate staff and students about the second bullying;
- Change the social norm and intervene when the second bullying occurs; and
- Apply consequences to those who perpetrate the second bullying.
9. Develop An Early-Warning System:
- Create systems that alert school personnel and parents to changes in the pattern of attendance, academic performance, appearance (dress, exhaustion, physical abuse,) so that they report suspicions of bullying to appropriate personnel as soon as possible; and
- Develop a system to identify, monitor and track the health and well being of victims or students at risk. Establish a mentor system in which adults mentor students who are likely to be victimized.
- Involve parents and the community in various ways so that they are encouraged to connect to school personnel with their concerns. Establish a team to work with each child/family to resolve issues in a sensitive and appropriate manner.
10. Create, Amass and Distribute Bullying Information:
An interesting and significant amount of information about bullying should be developed and acquired. Appropriate distribution and integration methods need to be developed; including the use of the internet.
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