What is Bullying?
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive, repetitive behavior among children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Both students who are bullied and students who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.
Bullying vs. Peer Conflict
Many students and parents are aware of our anti-bullying stance in Seminole County Public Schools and specifically at Lawton Chiles Middle School. With that there has also been an increase in confusion on the difference between teenage peer conflict and bullying. The main difference is to remember the acronym that simplifies the definition for bullying. The acronym is RIP.
R – Repeated. The action of the bully is generally a repeated action, occurring time after time.
I – Intentional. The target does not knowingly provoke the bully and, as such, the bully is intentional with their behavior/actions.
P – Power Imbalance. In bullying situations, there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the two parties. This imbalance can be physical strength, access to information, or even popularity.
In contrast, teenage peer conflicts differ from bullying situations in the following ways:
- The children involved are of equal power or are friends.
- The conflict that occurs is occasional or often accidental.
- There is an equal emotional reaction to the conflict to both children and power or control is not being sought.
What do I do if I think I'm being bullied?
The biggest issue I see arise is students do not report the problem and think they can handle it themselves. From my 30 years of experience in education, I have never seen a conflict get better by ignoring it. Early Intervention is the key to a better outcome. If you are a student, please report bullying by going to Student Services and writing a statement with as many details as you can remember. If you are a parent, email [email protected]. You also can copy me on the email at [email protected]. Include as much information as you can. Once you do this, the administration will need to investigate the situation. Please give us a minimum of a day to interview and research the situation completely. Many times by asking questions more information is uncovered that needs to be addressed.
I'm not sure it is bullying. What do I do?
Report it. We will look into it and determine how to move forward. We don't expect you to be experts, so if you aren't sure - go ahead and report it.
Who can you tell? Any adult, especially:
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Administration
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Counseling Team
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School Resource Officer
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School Safety Guard
It is the policy of the Seminole County School Board that all of its students, volunteers, and school district level employees have an educational setting that is safe, secure and free from harassment and bullying of any kind. The School Board will not tolerate bullying and harassment of any type. Conduct that constitutes bullying and harassment, as defined herein, is prohibited.
What has changed recently is how conflict starts between teenagers.
An overarching generalization is all conflict has roots in social media.
Something is said on video or posted that causes conflict between teenagers. It can be a simple statement that is offensive to a group of people or it can be directed towards someone specifically.
What do you do if this happens?
Immediately report it to an adult. Take a screenshot and/or save the video. You can email [email protected] the information or see him when you get to campus. Every situation is unique and after investigating the situation, we make the determination if it is bullying (cyberbullying) or electronic misuse. We use the definitions on the next page of this newsletter to help us determine what the appropriate consequences are.
Important to Note
If you send threatening or intimidating statements, pictures, or memes to another teenager even if you do it as a joke, it can be perceived by the person receiving it as real and result in consequences. So ask yourself, "If this was written on paper, would it sound bad?" Read it out loud before you send it.
Cyber Bullying
SCPS Code of Conduct - Please see link below.
Bullying (S) Level IV
– Systemically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students or employees. Bullying includes instances of cyberbullying, as defined in Section1006.147(3)(b), F.S. Bullying may include, but is not limited to, repetitive instances of teasing, social exclusion, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, theft, harassment, public or private humiliation, or destruction of property. If the physical harm or psychological distress is not the result of systematic or chronic behavior, evaluate for Harassment.
Electronic Device Misuse
- Disruptive and inappropriate exposure/use of cell phones, text messaging, web access, digital cameras, and similar communication/smart devices during the instruction day or video recording another person in any manner that would violate the law. Principals, in cooperation with the School Advisory Council at each school, have the option of permitting wireless/electronic devices for instructional purposes and/or in common areas during the school day. The use of a computer/calculator to do the following unauthorized and prohibited activities include, but are not limited to: violating the Acceptable Use Policy for Creating Digital Citizens (SBSC Policy7540.03) hacking into or accessing or breaking into restricted accounts or networks; modifying, or destroying files without permission; illegally copying software; and entering, accessing, viewing, distributing, or printing inappropriate/unauthorized files, programs, accessing pornographic sites, or sites advocating hate or violence. Please also remember that this also applies to any SCPS software. Any inappropriate words, phrases, threats, pictures, memes sent via any SCPS medium (email, Google Docs, Google Slides, etc.) will be captured by our IT department and sent to Dr. Bridges so that she can issue a consequence.
Threat/Intimidation (S) Level III
An incident where there was no physical contact between the offender and victim, but the victim reasonably believed that physical harm could have occurred based on verbal or nonverbal communication by the offender. This includes nonverbal threats and verbal threats of physical harm which are made in person, electronically, or through any other means.
Pursuant to Florida Statute 836.10 it is a second-degree felony for a person to communicate a written threat to do bodily harm to another person.
Bullying and Harassment Prohibited
SCPS applies a proactive approach to Bully Prevention, involving all members of a school community. Administrators, faculty, staff, bus drivers, parents, and students play a critical role in creating an atmosphere conducive to academic success, for all students. Programs, Initiatives, and Procedures collectively provide a comprehensive school plan. Schools that utilize this approach in its entirety will experience the highest percentage of a positive school climate. Support for this policy yearly is provided via:
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Administrator and staff training
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District Wide Policies
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School wide and classroom prevention lessons
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Awareness activities through initiatives
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Parent and Community Involvement
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Community Partnerships
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SCPS Bullying Brochure
Links