Bullying: D211 Handles Around 50 Reports Per Year

PALATINE, 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.

Patch also reached out to suburban parents to get their input on how bullying may have affected their son or daughter. Responses from District 211 parents have been posted on Patch.

Studies show students who are bullied are at increased risk for anxiety, depression, poor self-image, mental health and behavior problems and poor school adjustment. The state's largest high school district, which is made up of five local high schools and nearly 12,000 students, had 39 total reported incidents of bullying in the 2018-2019 school year and 32 in the 2017-2018 school year.

And those numbers are a bit below average, administrators said.

"The frequency of reported bullying incidents is relatively consistent, with around 50 bullying reports being made per year," Thomas Peterson, director of community relations for District 211, wrote in an e-mail response.

Patch posed a handful of questions earlier this month to District 211 administrators regarding bullying to see what policies and procedures are in place for handling the issue. Peterson responded with the following responses:

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

Cyber-Bullying: Students are not permitted to use personal devices in school or to use the
District’s technologies, including District network and District access to:

1.Take pictures of anyone that will cause embarrassment and/or harm to that individual. Any unauthorized audio or video recording of any student or staffmember, and/or any unauthorized distribution of any image or recording of anystudent or staff member without the full knowledge and consent of theindividual being recorded is not permitted. Such conduct may also be illegal.

2.Create, post, repost, or transfer any discriminatory, confidential, threatening,libelous, obscene or slanderous comments about District 211, its employees,students, parents or community members.

3.Send mean or threatening email. Students should never discuss inappropriate topics when emailing, texting or posting on social media – even if suchdiscussion is considered to be in a joking manner by students. Likewise,students should never respond to messages or posts that are suggestive,obscene, belligerent or harassing.

Bullying/Harassment: Township High School District 211 believes in providing all students : equal access to a safe learning environment in curricular and extracurricular programs by preventing students from engaging in bullying behaviors, identifying disruptive bullying acts, and intervening should bullying occur. State law expressly prohibits bullying in schools. Bullying on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, gender, national, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender-related identity or expression, unfavorable discharge from military service, association with a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual or perceived characteristics, or any other distinguishing characteristic is prohibited in each of the following situations:
1. During any school-sponsored education program or activity.
2. While in school, on school property, on school buses or other school vehicles, at designated school bus stops waiting for the school bus, or at school-sponsored or school-sanctioned events or activities.
3. Through the transmission of information from a school computer, a school computer network, or other similar electronic school equipment.
4. Through the transmission of information from a computer that is accessed at a non school-related location, activity, function, or program or from the use of technology or an electronic device that is not owned, leased, or used by the district or school if the bullying causes a substantial disruption to the educational process or orderly operation of a school.

Bullying includes cyber-bullying and means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student or students that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:
1. Placing the student or students in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s or students’ person or property;
2. Causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student’s or students’ physical or mental health;
3. Substantially interfering with the student’s or students’ academic performance; or
4. Substantially interfering with the student’s or students’ ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

Cyber-bullying means bullying through the use of technology or any electronic communication, including without limitation any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic system, photo-electronic system, or photo-optical system, including without limitation electronic mail, Internet communications, instant messages, or facsimile communications. Cyber-bullying includes the creation of a webpage or weblog, or a social media account in which the creator assumes the identity of another person or the knowing impersonation of another person as the author of posted content or messages if the creation or impersonation creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of bullying. Cyber-bullying also includes the distribution by electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of material on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons if the distribution or posting creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of bullying.

Bullying may take various forms, including without limitations one or more of the following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying.
Students who believe they have been the subject of bullying are encouraged to report the matter immediately to the principal, assistant principal, or a Title IX/ADA compliance administrator. Students may choose to report to a person of the student’s same gender. Anonymous reports are also acceptable. All schools maintains an anonymous electronic Safety Concern Center on the school websiteas well as a telephone tip hotline to report incidents of bullying. An administratorwill investigate the complaint as soon as possible or appoint a qualified person toundertake the investigation on his or her behalf.
Any student who is determined, after an investigation, to have engaged in bullying in violation of this policy, and the bullying behavior is within the scope of the school’s jurisdiction, will be subject to disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, suspension, and/or expulsion consistent with the District’s discipline policy; and/or athletic/activity board review. Students engaged in bullyingbehavior may be referred to local law enforcement authorities.By law, bullying is also prohibited through the transmission of information from acomputer that is accessed at a non-school related location, activity, function, orprogram or from the use of technology or an electronic device that is not owed,leased, or used by District 211 if the bullying causes a substantial disruption to theeducational process or orderly operation of the school.
Consistent with rules governing student privacy rights, the parent(s)/guardian(s) of every student involved in an alleged incident of bullying shall be promptlyinformed and made aware of the availability of social work services, counseling,school psychological services, other interventions, and restorative measures.A reprisal or retaliation against any person who reports an act of bullying isprohibited. A student’s act of reprisal or retaliation will be subject to disciplinaryaction, including, but not limited to, suspension and/or expulsion consistent withthe District’s discipline policy and/or athletic/activity board review.
A student will not be punished for reporting bullying or supplying information, even if the administrator’s investigation concludes that no bullying occurred.However, knowingly making a false accusation or providing knowingly falseinformation will be treated as bullying for purposes of determining anyconsequences or other appropriate remedial actions.

PATCH: What is the discipline process for students who bully others?

District administrators look at the incident and the students involved on an individual basis. There are typically many facets to each incident that require ourschools to address these incidents with a comprehensive approach. Research hasshown that traditional, exclusively punitive responses to student misbehavior hasvery limited positive impact on student behavior which fails to address the deeperconditions that lead to students bullying and being bullied.

Those students who are determined, after an investigation, to have engaged in bullying behaviors, and if those behaviors are within the scope of the school’sjurisdiction, they face various school responses. Administrators leverageinterventions that balance holding students accountable with those responsesfocused on effectively changing behavior. It is essential that students see theconnection of their behavior to the community for which they are a part. Therestorative practices that we employ are focused on balancing consequences withindividual growth and improving the socio-emotional health of all students.In instances where students engage in significant or repetitive bullying behaviors,those students may be referred to local law enforcement authorities for theirassistance and intervention.

PATCH: 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?

Anything that meets the definition in the policy. Whenever we get a report, we act.

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

Our schools have a multitude of programs and practices that focus on creating and maintaining positive school communities. All schools have unique, school-identity orientated positive behavior and intervention programs that focus on communicating clearly established behavioral expectations that are universallyunderstood and reinforced through positive measures. Catching and acknowledging students doing the right thing, while holding students accountable when they act in contradiction to the schools’ values is a well-established andresearch-affirmed approach to improving school culture.

Programs such as Operation Snowball is a grassroots orientated program focused on identifying and supporting student leaders who emphasize respect for ones’ school, self, and others. Operation Snowball student leaders are empoweredthrough their roles in the planning and operation of school-based programs,presentations, and events, and they work closely with each school’s staff andadministration to support the positive school climate initiatives.

The District 211 Digital Democracy program consists of a group of staff leaders who coordinate with student-level committees to emphasize what it means to be responsible, safe, and respectful citizens of the digital world. This program’scharter is focused on teaching and reinforcing positive behavior and interactionsonline and through social media, as well as educating students on digital safety.

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

We offer an array of support services for both victims and perpetrators of bullying. We recognize that in most cases, all individuals involved in instances of bullying need and benefit from supportive services. We try not to emphasize the term “victim” and “offender” as this serves to categorically marginalize the individuals involved and can be counterproductive to effectively teaching students how to positively participate in the school community. The goal is always to promote positive behaviors, address incidents when they occur, strengthen all students’ resiliency, and support all students’ well-being. The resources we leverage include counselling, social work, and psychological services, regular follow-up with administrators, referrals to outside services, student support groups, and parent conferences for those involved.

PATCH: Some schools use apps — Ok2Say, STOPIt, BullyTag, etc. — or some other system that allows students to anonymously report bullying. Does your district do this?

District 211 created and utilizes its own, anonymous online safety concern reporting system. Students, parents, and community members can submit a report of a safety or bullying concern directly to school staff via The Safety Concern Reporting tool. Reports can be anonymous, or reporters can include their own information, in addition to having the ability to attach or include any relevant electronic information. Reports are immediately sent to multiple administrators in the respective building, as well as student support personnel and the school’s police resource officer. Because these reports come immediately to multiple administrative staff members, they are promptly responded to and investigated to the fullest extent.

This reporting mechanism was developed by District 211 staff and has been in place since approximately 2005, many years before it became recommended practice within the realm of school safety and bullying prevention.

The Safety Concern Reporting tool can be accessed via any school’s or the district’s website home page. In addition, each District 211 student has their own personal iPad that includes access to a link to the safety concern form that can be used at any time.

How Other Suburban Districts Are Handling Bullying

• Bullying: How Skokie School Districts Tackle The Issue
• District 47 Looks at New Ways to Address Bullying
• Bullying: How Lincoln-Way D210 Tackles The Issue