1. Presented by Analisa Chapa
CI 5370

2.  Bullying can take many forms, including:
 Sexual harassment of another student
 Teasing and excluding
 Name calling
 Physically pushing, hitting or otherwise attacking
 Threatening or hazing
 Damaging or stealing belongings
 Demanding money

3.  Most states have their own interpretation of bullying
 Texas Law states the following:"bullying" means
engaging in written or verbal expression or physical
conduct that a school district board of trustees or the
board's designee determines:
(1) will have the effect of physically harming a
student, damaging a student's property, or placing a
student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's
person or of damage to the student's property; or
(2) is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive
enough that the action or threat creates an
intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational
environment for a student.

4.  Bullying once meant dipping a schoolgirl's braids in
the desk inkwell or throwing snowballs at the new kids
 21st century bullying can involve school shootings,
tormenting gay classmates, ruinous sex videos,
devastating Internet abuse and suicides.
 The new extremes may be due to increasing violence
among children, and, ironically, may also flow from
diversity, which provides bullies with targets who look
or sound different or may be gay, or have disabilities.

5.  Passed in the Texas 2011 Session:
 SB 407 – Requires the Texas School Safety Center to
develop programs that address “sexting” (sexually explicit
material or photos sent by text message), and better
responses to incidents of bullying and “cyberbullying”
(bullying through the Internet).
 SB 471 and HB 1942 – Starting in 2012-2013 – Expands the
requirements on school districts to address bullying and
harassment, such as parental notification, programs for
students and staff, providing counseling to bullies and
victims and protecting those who report
bullying. Charter schools also are required to adopt a
policy on sexual abuse starting this year.

6.  HB 1942 – Expands the definition of bullying and
allows school districts to transfer the bully to another
classroom or campus within the district.
 HB 1386 – Requires the development of intervention
and prevention programs to train school staff to
recognize potential suicide victims, to include those
students targeted by bullies.

7.  Last week, a Texas high school freshman committed suicide after
enduring years of bullying from a group of classmates dubbed the "wolf
pack," NBC reported.
 Ted "Teddy" Molina was a 16-year-old Flour Bluff High School student
in Corpus Christi, Texas. He killed himself with a hunting rifle. Teddy,
who is part Korean and part Hispanic, was taunted and received death
threats due to his mixed race, his family says.
 Representatives from the Flour Bluff School District have denied being
aware of a bullying problem in their schools, but some parents seem to
disagree.
 A mother removed her two children from a junior high school in the
district due to bullying last February, KRIS-TV reports. Other parents
have come forward with similar stories.
 Teddy's mother withdrew her son from school on March 5 at the height
of the teen's bullying, said Teddy's sister Misa Molina. Teddy's parents
also claimed to have filed over a dozen complaints regarding their son's
harassment.

8.  A new documentary
titled "Bully" examines
school bullying by
following five kids over
the course of a school
year. It uncovers the
struggles of children who
are physically and
emotionally abused by
fellow students. The
documentary reports 13
million children are
bullied in the United
States every year. It's
directed by Lee Hirsch.
Since this was posted the rating has
changed from R to PG 13!

9.  Under the Texas Education Code, student bullying and
harassment is prohibited. School administrators must
also take steps to prevent and deal with physical and
emotional school bullying.

10.  J.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District (2000), the
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reviewed the
case where J.S. was expelled from school for creating a
Web page that included threatening and derogatory
comments about specific school staff.
 In its ruling, the court made it clear that schools do
have the authority to discipline students when speech
articulated or behavior committed off‐campus results
in a clear disruption of the school environment.

11.  In Emmett v. Kent School District No. 415 (2000),
however, the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Washington reviewed a case where a
student was initially expelled (the punishment was
later modified to a five day suspension) for creating a
Web page entitled the “Unofficial Kentlake High
Home Page” that included mock obituaries of students
and an online mechanism for visitors to vote on who
should die next.

12.  The major issue in this case was that the school district
failed to demonstrate that the Web site was “intended
to threaten anyone, did actually threaten anyone, or
manifested any violent tendencies whatsoever.” This
lack of evidence, combined with the above findings
regarding the out‐of‐school nature of the speech,
indicates that the plaintiff has a substantial likelihood
of success on the merits of his claim” (Nick Emmett v.
Kent School District No. 415 [W.D. Wa. 2000]). To
reiterate, the district was unable to show that anyone
listed on the site was actually threatened by the site, or
that it resulted in a significant disturbance at school.

13.  In a case involving cyber-bullying, a student sued the
school district for limiting her First Amendment free
speech rights by suspending her for creating a hate
website against another student at school. The Fourth
Circuit determined that the speech created actual or
reasonably foreseeable "substantial disorder and
disruption" at school; therefore, this was not the
"speech" a school is required to tolerate and did not
merit First Amendment protection.

14.  Seek action if you suspect your child is being a victim
of bullying
 As an educator, be familiar with your schools policy on
bullying
 Alert school officials/administrators when you witness
any incident that involves bullying
 Always keep documentation!

15.  Since bullying can be many different things, how
do you suppose you will be able to spot the
difference?
 With people becoming more aware of the effects of
bullying, do you think that there will be stronger
policies in place?