Anti-Bullying Initiative
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How Do I Know if My Child is Being Bullied?
John moves with his family from a large city to a tiny Midwestern town. He likes to read and play his trumpet in the school band, two activities that are not popular at his high school. Members of the football team routinely taunt him and shove him into lockers when they pass him in the hallway. John does his best to ignore the boys, but he has no friends and becomes depressed.
Emma and Bella are in third grade and have been best friends since kindergarten. One day, Emma sees Bella talking and laughing with another girl. She believes the girls are talking about her, so she asks the other girls in their class to purposely ignore Bella. In response, Bella spreads a rumor that Emma likes a certain boy. Soon the girls are openly hostile to each other, giving each other mean looks and saying mean things to each other at recess.
While both of these situations are hurtful, only one meets the definition of bullying. In order for a situation to be considered bullying, the following three things must be true:
- Repeated mean actions
- One-sided (there is a clear aggressor and a clear victim)
- There is an imbalance of power (the aggressor is bigger, older, more popular, etc.)
Bullying can result in serious consequences. The state of Idaho passed an anti-bullying law in 2015. You can find out more information about this law here: https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2015/legislation/H0246/ As a result of this law, school officials are required to report acts of bullying to law enforcement, no matter the age of the student, and charges may be filed.
Because of these far-reaching consequences, it is important that accusations of bullying not be made lightly. In both of the earlier stories, kids are being hurt and school personnel need to intervene. However, only John’s situation meets the definition of bullying because it is one-sided and there is an imbalance of power between John and the football players.
All students in the Coeur d’Alene School District receive lessons about the definition of bullying and how to respond if they witness or are a victim of bullying. More importantly, students also learn how to be kind to each other, and how to stand up and speak up for their peers who are hurting, whether or not the cause of this hurt can be defined as bullying.
The following website is a great resource for families to learn more about the definition of bullying and how to respond to difficult situations at school: https://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/
Thanks to members of our Stand Up, Speak Up Committee for sharing the above information.