Bullying or Conflict/Peer Aggression?
These days the term bullying is used often by the media, parents, students, community members, and even educators to label any type of aggression or disagreement between people.
But what many people do not realize is that not every unkind thing kids do constitutes bullying.
When this happens, the message of what bullying truly is gets watered down and the word bullying loses its meaning. When we talk about bullying, we want people to take it seriously. But if suddenly every mean thing a child does gets labeled bullying, people stop paying attention.
For something to constitute bullying, it must contain three elements: an imbalance of power, a repetition of hurtful behaviors, and an intention to inflict harm. In other words, kids who bully usually are bigger, older or have more social power than their targets.
And finally, the goal of the bully is to harm the other person in some way so that they have even more control and power over the victim.
Conflict is a struggle between two or more people who appear to have different goals or desires. Conflict occurs naturally as we interact with one another. It is a normal part of life that we will not always agree with other people about the things we want, what we think, or what we want to do. Most conflicts arise in the moment, because people of the same relative amount of power see the same situation from two different points of view.
In our District, students, parents, and staff have the ability to report bullying. Each building principal is designated as the building anti-bullying coordinator. The District has both a bullying report form and a general complaints and concerns form. When an anti-bullying coordinator is informed about a possible bullying incident, a prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation is completed within ten (10) school days. During the investigation, interim measures are implemented if necessary.
If it is determined that bullying occurred, appropriate action is taken for violations of the District expectations and rules. Consequences may include, but are not limited to, loss of privileges, detention, in-or-out -of-school suspension, expulsion, and referral to law enforcement. Any determination of consequences will consider factors such as the age of the student, developmental level of the student, degree of harm, severity of the behavior, disciplinary history, and other educationally relevant factors.
Just because an aggressive act is not determined to be bullying does not mean the aggressor won't receive a consequence.
Consequences can be given either way.
The situation is just documented differently. It is important to note that the District cannot provide discipline information about a student to others involved in the situation, as this is illegal and a privacy violation.