Bullying continues to be a topic of concern
for many parents!
By
Therese Duncan
First VP for Legislation, SEPTA Council
kcspta@aol.com
Several years ago I represented Connecticut PTA on the state
bullying task force convened to address the issue of bullying in our schools. As
a result of the task force a law was passed by the Connecticut legislature in
2002 (see below).
Unfortunately, bullying persists and often parents feel ill
equipped to address the situation. We regularly hear from parents who have tried
to help their child. They have taken the appropriate steps in the school in
hopes of stopping the behavior but the devastating behavior continues.
Dr. William Howe is an expert in the area of
Multicultural Education and Gender Equity with the Connecticut State Department
of Education from the office of Educational Equity. He welcomes calls from
parents who need to navigate the bullying issue. Parents may phone Dr. Howe to
discuss bullying as well as issues pertaining to discrimination based on race,
color, national origin, gender, disability and sexual harassment. Dr. Howe can
be reached at 860-713-6542
Please let me know if I can be of help to you!
Therese
An Act Concerning Bullying Behavior in Schools
Public Act 02-119, An Act
Concerning Bullying Behavior in Schools (Effective July 1, 2002 )
Each local and regional board of education shall develop a policy, for use on
and after February 1, 2003, to address the existence of bullying in its
schools. Such policy shall: (1) Enable students to anonymously report acts of
bullying to teachers and school administrators, (2) enable the parents or
guardians of students to file written reports of suspected bullying, (3)
require teachers and other school staff who witness acts of bullying or
receive student reports of bullying to notify school administrators, (4
require school administrators to investigate any written reports filed
pursuant to subdivision (2) of this section and to review any anonymous
reports, (5) include an intervention strategy for school staff to deal with
bullying, (6) provide for the inclusion of language in student codes of
conduct concerning bullying, (7) require the parents or guardians of students
who commit any verified acts of bullying and the parents or guardians of
students against whom such acts were directed to be notified, and (8) require
each school to maintain a list of the number of verified acts of bullying in
such school and make such list available for public inspection. The
notification required pursuant to subdivision (7) of this section shall
include a description of the response of school staff to such acts and any
consequences that may result from the commission of further acts of bullying.
For purposes of this section, "bullying" means any overt acts by a student or
a group of students directed against another student with the intent to
ridicule, humiliate or intimidate the other student while on school grounds or
at a school-sponsored activity which acts are repeated against the same
student over time.
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