Bullying: How Highland Park Schools Tackle The Issue

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — As part of its National Bullying Prevention Month coverage, Patch contacted administrators of dozens of public school districts in Chicago area suburbs to see how they handle bullying in their communities. Across the country, bullying is a problem that affects more than one in five students. While may boil it down to the idea that "kids will be kids," studies show that students who are bullied are at increased risk for anxiety, depression, poor self-image, mental health and behavior problems and poor school adjustment.

Highland Park Patch posed questions about bullying to administrators of North Shore School District 112 and Township High School District 113 earlier this month.

The responses provided by NSSD112 Communications Director Nicholas Glenn are in italics below, followed by additional material provided the district.

• What is the district’s policy with regard to bullying and cyberbullying?
  

Policy 7:180
Sharing content from the Student/Parent Handbook (annual review by parents)

• What is the discipline process for students who bully others?

Investigation - follow procedures (Administrative procedure listed below.)

• How many reported incidents of bullying did the district have last year?

There were 18 reports of "bullying" last year that was investigated.

• What constitutes a reportable bullying incident? How does the district define bullying? (In other words, when does it rise to the level of being reportable?)

We encourage staff and students to REPORT ANYTHING OF CONCERN.

• What measures are the district taking to be proactive about bullying?

We teach Second Step as our primary social-emotional program in all classes PreK-8.

Beyond the Second Step, the program's Anti-Bullying Program is used within schools. (an example, at Braeside, we teach it proactively at grades 3-4 since this is where our data of bullying claims rest).

We will be doing the Anti-Bullying program all grades this year.

• What is the district doing to help students who have been the victim of bullying?

Social work, IEP/504 accommodations if appropriate, individual conferencing, counseling, family outreach, community outreach.

• Some schools use apps — Ok2Say, STOPIt, BullyTag, etc. — or some other system that allows students to anonymously report bullying. Does your district do this? What kind of volume are schools seeing? Has that increased/decreased?

Gaggle is used for monitoring of the Google Suite for Education documents, emails, etc. for the content of a bullying/violence concern.

We have access to the Text-a-Tip service (Lake County)

We have tip line access via the District 112 app

We will start to promote the Lake County 211 helpline

We have participated in the Safe Schools Training

Safe Schools presented at the Equity and Inclusion LGBTQ+ conference that our admin attended. We are reaching out for additional information/resources.

District 112 has social workers and psychologists at all schools

Administrative Procedure for Policy 7:180
North Shore School District 112 – Administrative Procedure

Administrative Procedure - Prevention, Identification, Investigation, and Response to Bullying
The strategic components for integrating an anti-bullying program into the District’s existing policies and procedures are listed below. Each component lists specific implementation steps along with resources and accompanying exhibits. The Superintendent or designee, at the District-level, or the Building Principal or designee, at the Building-level, is responsible for the integration of these components. Use the local conditions of the community and other available resources to determine the best implementation methods. At times, support from the School Violence Prevention Team (see4:190, Targeted School Violence Prevention Program) may be appropriate as bullying and threats of school violence often arise from the same behavior pattern(s), i.e., interpersonal aggression.

Preventing Bullying

1. Review 7:180-AP1, E1, Resource Guide for Bullying Prevention.
2. Assess the District’s Conditions for Development and Learning. Below are resources that discuss and provide information about how to implement school climate measurement instruments:
   School Bullying Prevention Task Force Report, Selection of School Climate Measures, p. 19 at: www.isbe.net/Documents/sbptf_report_030111.pdf.
   Safe Supportive Learning’s School Climate Measurement compendium at: https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/topic-research/school-climate-measurement.

Identifying Bullying

1. Post 7:180-AP1, E2, Be a Hero by Reporting Bullying, in school buildings, student handbooks, online, etc.
2. Train staff to recognize and accept reports of bullying, 7:180-AP1, E3, Memo to Staff Regarding Bullying.
3. Inform parents about the District’s anti-bullying program, 7:180-AP1, E4, Memo to Parents/Guardians Regarding Bullying.
4. Inform students how to make a report, including an anonymous report, i.e., complete and submit 7:180-AP1, E5, Report Form for Bullying.

Investigating Reports of Bullying

1. Conduct a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation upon receiving a report.
2. Review the report, i.e., 7:180-AP1, E5, Report Form for Bullying.
3. Interview the listed aggressor(s), target(s) and witnesses using 7:180-AP1, E6, Interview Form for Bullying Investigation.

Responding to Bullying

1. Complete 7:180-AP1, E7, Response to Bullying.
2. Notify the District’s Non-Discrimination Coordinator if the findings indicate that the behavior was based upon the protected statuses listed in 7:20, Harassment of Students Prohibited.
3. Communicate and partner with the parents/guardians of the students involved. Ask parents/guardians, “How can we help you and your child?”
4. Stop the behavior(s).
5. Eliminate any hostile environment(s) and its effects (see Preventing Bullying #2, above).
6. Prevent bullying from happening again.
7. Implement appropriate interventions for the target, aggressor, and District.
8. Address any findings of repeated inaccurate accusations against an alleged-aggressor that are beginning to impede his or her education, e.g., reverse bullying.
9. Follow-up with target, aggressor and their parent(s)/guardian(s) to ensure subsequent bullying has not occurred and no new concerns have arisen.

Material to be shared with staff, students and parents during Bullying Prevention Month and throughout the school year:

Poster - Be a Hero by Reporting Bullying

Memo to NSSD112 Staff Regarding Bullying

All staff members:
Please join me in stopping and preventing student bullying in our school. The purpose of this letter is to introduce you to our three-pronged approach that will help accomplish this goal.

First - If a student reports bullying to you, respond immediately and with compassion. Ask for the basic facts (who-what-when-where). Refer the report to my office. Give the student our form for reporting bullying, 7:180-AP1, E5, Report Form for Bullying.

Second - Provide me your feedback and concerns. Do you know of any bullying hot spots that need additional supervision or monitoring? Are there known bullies or targets of bullying?

Third - Intervene immediately to stop a bullying incident. When teachers or adults ignore bullying, students interpret it as acceptable behavior. Immediately contact administration and building security or law enforcement if the incident involves a weapon or other illegal activity.

Bullying is defined in School Board policy 7:180, Prevention of and Response to Bullying, Intimidation, and Harassment, as follows:

Bullying means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:

1. Placing the student in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s person or property.
2. Causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student’s physical or mental health.
3. Substantially interfering with the student’s academic performance.
4. Substantially interfering with the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

Bullying, intimidation, and/or harassment may take various forms, including without limitation: threats, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying.

The Board’s entire policy may be found on the District’s website. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Building Principal

Memo to NSSD112 Parents/Guardians Regarding Bullying

Dear Parents/Guardians:

At our school, bullying of any kind, by any person, is unacceptable. All students should be free from worries about being bullied. Students who bully others must be taught other, appropriate ways of interacting with peers. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with information concerning the School District’s anti-bullying program and to encourage you to help us identify students who are being bullied.

The School Board policy on bullying begins with this goals statement:
Bullying, intimidation, and harassment diminish a student’s ability to learn and a school’s ability to educate. Preventing students from engaging in these disruptive behaviors is an important District goal.

Bullying is defined as follows:
Bullying means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:

1. Placing the student in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s person or property.
2. Causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student’s physical or mental health.
3. Substantially interfering with the student’s academic performance.
4. Substantially interfering with the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

Bullying, intimidation, and/or harassment may take various forms, including without limitation: threats, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying.

I asked our school staff members to respond immediately and with compassion to a student who reports bullying or school violence. After evaluating the situation to determine if an immediate referral to my office is needed, a staff member will give the student our form for reporting bullying, 7:180-AP1, E5, Report Form for Bullying. I will inform you whenever your child is involved in a bullying report.

I also asked our staff members for their feedback and concerns specifically regarding locations that may be bullying hot spots needing additional supervision or monitoring or if there are any known bullies or targets of bullying in our building. I want to ask you to do the same thing. Please inform me if you know of any bullying hot spots in or around our school, or if you are aware of a known bully or target of bullying.

Finally, I requested our staff members to intervene immediately to stop a bullying incident. They will immediately contact building security and or law enforcement if the incident involves a weapon or other illegal activity.

Below are some of the signs that a young person is being bullied:

• Does not want to go to school and refuses to explain the reason
• Talks about not having any friends
• Has unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches, or abrasions
• Has unexplained damage to clothing, possessions, books, etc.
• Frequently loses money or possessions
• Loses interest in school and/or has declining grades
• Becomes withdrawn and/or has stress or depression symptoms

These signs do not necessarily mean your child is being bullied, but if present, ask your child whether he or she is being bullied.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Building Principal

Highland Park High School

Township High School District 113 Communications Director Karen Warner provided the answers shown below in italics.

• What is the district’s policy with regard to bullying and cyberbullying?

You can find Policy 7-180 Prevention of and Response to Bullying, Intimidation, and Harassment by Students on the D113 website here: https://boardpolicyonline.com/...

• What is the discipline process for students who bully others?

Individual student discipline is a student record under the Illinois School Student Records Act (ISSRA) and Federal Education Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA) so D113 cannot comment or release any individual student discipline information. All student discipline is progressive, meaning that the consequence for any infraction depends on the entire discipline record of a student, as mandated by SB-100. As you can see in Policy 7-180, student discipline for bullying is governed by Policy 7-190 Student Behavior, you can find that on the website here: https://boardpolicyonline.com/...

• How many reported incidents of bullying does the district have in each of the past five years?

At both Highland Park High School and Deerfield High School, there were 18 incidents of bullying reported in the 2013-14 school year, 21 in 2014-15, 15 in 2015-16, 17 in 2016-17, 23 in 2017-18 and 14 in the 2018-19 school year, according to data provided by Assistant Superintendent Tom Krieger in response to a public records request.

• What constitutes a reportable bullying incident? How does the district define bullying? (In other words, when does it rise to the level of being reportable?)

School code (105 ILCS 5/27-23.7) defines descriptions of bullying and you can find those in Policy 7-180. The Administrative Procedure for Policy 7-180 under number 4 delineates the steps that must be taken and when, following a report of bullying. Any report of bullying begins the process described in the Administrative Procedure for Policy 7-180 number 4.

• What measures is the district taking to be proactive about bullying?

Again, the Administrative Procedure for Policy 7-180 under number 2 lists the many ways that bullying prevention is addressed.·

• What is the district doing to help students who have been the victim of bullying?

D113 takes a restorative approach. Again, please see the Administrative Procedure for Policy 7-180 for steps taken to help students who have been the victim of bullying.

• Some schools use apps — Ok2Say, STOPIt, BullyTag, etc. — or some other system that allows students to anonymously report bullying. Does your district do this? What kind of volume are schools seeing? Has that increased/decreased?

There is not a bullying-specific app. Of course, students can report directly to building personnel and right now there is an online form “STOP” that students can fill out to report bullying as well as other things, you can find that on the D113 website here: https://www.dist113.org/domain/24. There are also posters up in both schools with STOP information. At the October 7 Special Meeting, one of the items on the agenda for Board discussion was an upgrade to the District 113 website. Part of this upgrade includes a D113 mobile app which includes a Tip Line that would be embedded in the app, the website, and on student Chromebooks, and that Tip Line could be used to submit tips on a variety of topics. The submitter can choose to be anonymous or to self-identify. The item comes back for a vote on October 21.

The Menace Of Bullies: Patch Advocacy Reporting Project

As part of a national reporting project, Patch has been looking at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying and a child's unthinkable decision to end their own life in hopes we might offer solutions that save lives.

Bullying In Highland Park: Share Your Stories With Patch »

Do you have a story to tell? Are you concerned about how your local schools handle bullies and their victims? Email us at bullies@patch.com or share your views in the comments.

Selected Stories From The Project

• Bullied To Death: When Kids Kill With Words
• I Could Have Been Mallory Grossman
• Bullied Over Homemade T-Shirt, Kid Inspires University Of Tennessee Design
• Howell Teen Runs To Save Lives, Change Statistics On Suicide
• America's Shameful Truth About School Shooters And Bullying
• Cyberbullying Most Often Affects Girls; These Women Are Trying To Stop It
• Bullying Kids: Straighten Up, Or Your Parents May Have To Pay Up
• Teen Who Killed Himself Wasn't 'Worthless,' Family Tells Bullies
• Menace Of Bullies: Why This Woman Resigned Her 6-Figure Job
• Survivor Of Bullying And Suicide Writes Frankly About Both
• 'I Will Be Your Friend': First-Grader's Shirt Fights Bullies
• Girl-To-Girl Bullying: Why It's Different, Difficult To Confront
• What Prompts Bullying In This Ohio School
• Cyberbullying In This Michigan City Carries $500 Fine, 3 Months In Jail
• Bully Upstander: Whatever He Said Caused Bullies To Back Down
• Bullying Caused 11-Year-Old To Attempt Suicide, Mother Says
• Bullied 10-Year-Old's Suicide 8th In School District This Year
• The Menace Of Bullies: Most U.S. States Take On Cyberbullying
• Cyberbullying Is Now Against The Law In Michigan
• Shooting Incident Linked To Bullying At School, Mom Says
• Girls More Likely Than Boys To See Bullying As Harmful: Study
• 13-Year-Old Hangs Herself, But Bullying Killed Her
• Teen Tells Bullies In Video: 'Every Day, I Wear Your Words'
• 'The Hero Myth': Why Expecting Kids To Fight Bullies Is Harmful
• 'Mr. Anti-Bully': Reformed Bully, 12, Sets Mistake Right
• Mallory Grossman Bullying Detailed In Wrongful Death Suit
• Malden Schools Were Non-Compliant Through Bullying Saga: DOE
• 'They All Failed And Changed A Child': Malden Bullying Detailed
• Mom Speaks About Bullying Heartbreak: 'I Feel I Failed Him'
• Why These Kindergartners Start Each Day With A Handshake
• The Bully Menace: 'The Hurt Never Goes Away'
• Bullies And Their Targets The Same: Digital Self-Harm Rising
• Williamsburg Poetry Teacher Helps Bullied Kids Open Tortured Minds
• Bullying Tougher To Confront When It's Bias-Based: Researchers
• The Bully Menace: 13 Age-Appropriate Reads
• Teen's 'I Wear Your Words' Video Inspires Nashville Songwriters