APPLYING LAWS AND BEST PRACTICES

While bullying is a complex social and educational problem, cooperation among schools and families, as guided and instructed by state and federal laws, can help build stronger, harmonious school communities free from bullying.

BY JOHN T. SPOEDE JR., PH.D., D.MIN., LPC-S, LCDC, NCC, CSC AND ANGELA SPOEDE, J.D.

As our schools play increasingly important roles in the social and emotional health and development of our children, laws are following suit and addressing issues like bullying and cyberbullying. 

Historically, bullying has been addressed through existing criminal and civil statutes prohibiting discriminatory harassment, assault, and various other offenses. For example, federal education law requires that schools receiving federal funding must take action to address discriminatory harassment based on race, disability, religion, or other protected groups, that is so severe that it affects the victim's ability to participate in school activities (see, e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the IDEA). Some bullying might also fall under criminal statutes enacted at the state level. In Texas, bullying behavior can fall within the definitions of electronic harassment (Texas Penal Code section 42.07), online impersonation (Texas Penal Code section 33.07), criminal assault (Texas Penal Code section 22.01), or criminal stalking (Texas Penal Code section 47.072). Victims of bullies are also able to pursue civil relief, in some circumstances, in the form of lawsuits for harassment or defamation, or in suits seeking a court order requiring that a bully cease cyberbullying behavior (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 129A.002).

In addition to general criminal and civil avenues to punishing bullying, state legislatures have also stepped into the gap to develop legislation to empower schools to address bullying through on-campus and district-level discipline. In Texas, the State Legislature has been particularly active in the past several years to update definitions of bullying and provide structure for antibullying efforts.

The Texas Education Code, section 37.0832, addresses Bullying Prevention Policies and Procedures. It defines bullying as:

engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that occurs on school property, at a schoolsponsored or school-related activity, or in a vehicle operated by the district that (1) has the effect or 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, and pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student.

The statute further states that conduct is considered bullying if it "exploits an imbalance of power between the student perpetrator and the student victim through written or verbal expression or physical conduct" and "interferes with a student's education or substantially disrupts the operation of a school." Although other states and organizations have developed their own definitions, the Texas Legislature's definition is fairly representative of what most policies consider to be bullying, as it covers a wide variety of communication and conduct that will cause severe harm to a student's physical health or property, emo tional well-being, or access to educational experiences.

Texas has also added legislation as of the 2012-2013 school year requiring school districts to adopt formal policies addressing bullying and making those policies known to students and parents in the district. Under Texas Education Code section 37.0832(c):

The board of trustees of each school district shall adopt a policy, including any necessary procedures, concerning bullying that: (1) prohibits the bullying of a student; (2) prohibits retaliation against any person, including a victim, a witness, or other person, who in good faith provides information concerning an incident of bullying; (3) establishes a procedure for providing notice of an incident of bullying to a parent or guardian of the victim and a parent or guardian of the bully within a reasonable amount of time after the incident; (4) establishes the actions a student should take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying; (5) sets out the available counseling options for a student who is a victim of or a witness to bullying or who engages in bullying; (6) establishes procedures for reporting an incident of bullying, investigating a reported incident of bullying, and determining whether the reported incident of bullying occurred; (7) prohibits the imposition of a disciplinary measure on a student who, after an investigation, is found to be a victim of bullying, on the basis of that student's use of reasonable self-defense in response to the bullying; and (8) requires that discipline for bullying of a student with disabilities comply with applicable requirements under federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 USC Section 1400 et seq.).

The policy must be included each year in the student and employee handbooks for the district and in the district improvement plan (Texas Education Code section 11.252). The procedure for reporting bullying must also be posted on the district's website "to the extent practicable."

While these requirements provided needed structure to the state's bullying-prevention efforts, it did not address concerns regarding actions and communications that occurred off-campus but that nevertheless impacted a student's learning environment and ability to participate meaningfully in his or her education. Thus, effective September 1, 2017, the Texas Legislature passed David's Law, named after David Molak who committed suicide after being the victim of cyberbullying. David's Law (aka S.B. 179) specifically allows schools to discipline for off-campus incidents.

for off-campus incidents. Although laws regarding bullying are instituted at the state level, there are federal agencies with resources to help both schools, students, and parents address concerns surrounding bullying. The website StopBullying.gov is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which endeavors to stay up-to-date on the latest information about bullying and cyberbullying. It allows users to sign up for email updates and adds new materials regularly. StopBullying.gov also provides information on what schools can do to institute policies and procedures— such as those required by state education laws like education laws like Texas Education Code section 37.0832(c)—to prevent and address bullying. The site identifies three main resources for schools. These resources include: teaching activities, evidence-based programs and curricula, and staff trainings.

Some of the activities for teaching students about bullying are PARTICIPATE IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES not always formal programs. Many schools choose to incorporate lessons about bullying prevention into other preexisting classes and resources. Some examples of this include having students research about bullying prevention and how to respond to bullying as a topic of research when they are learning research and internet search skills through the library. Another example would be to incorporate creative writing assignments into the English and language arts classes which encourages students to write poems, stories and skits about bullying and how bystanders can respond safely when bullying occurs. One final example would be for students, through their art class, to create a collage or other art project that encourages mutual respect or addresses a topic related to bullying through art. These are just a few of the examples enumerated in the stopbullying.gov website.

Evidenced-based programs are another way to address bullying and increase bullying prevention in schools. There are several resources to learn about these programs. First, the Council for Exceptional Children, stopbullying.gov, and pacer.org all identify evidenced-based programs for bullying prevention. According to Lawner and Trazian (2013), involving parents and implementing a "whole-school approach" were found to positively impact outcomes related to bullying. Parent involvement ranges from parent meetings at the school, to educational information and guidelines sent home to parents to help them reinforce what the students learn in the anti-bullying programs. The whole school approach focuses on changing the climate at a school, rather than a one time program or intervention, and requires training for all teachers, administrators, and counselors in modeling and reinforcing anti-bullying messages throughout the school year.

All of these resources can help schools develop a safe method for reporting bullying, and they can help schools develop protocols for responding to bullying quickly and consistently, which is key to eliminating bullying and creating a culture of mutual respect.

These resources can also help parents participate in teaching kids how to handle difficult emotions and power imbalances without resorting to bullying behavior, and they can guide students to advocate for their peers and actively resist bullies instead of being passive spectators. Parents can involve themselves in anti-bullying efforts by doing something as simple as spending more time with their children and their children's friends, so that they can observe interactions and notice changes in behavior or social interactions that might indicate that their child is a bully or is being bullied. Parents can also intervene on behalf of their children who are victims of bullying by learning about the school's anti-bullying policies and procedures and communicating with the school about specific issues in a clear, direct, and respectful manner. Spoede and Reed (2015 & 2016) specifically state that parents should address concerns about bullying to the school in writing, so as to have a formal record of the date and details of any reports made to school officials. Finally, parents can be an instrumental part of creating an anti-bullying culture by modeling and teaching their students respect for self and others, appropriate social interactions, methods to diffuse stressful situations, and conflict.

While bullying is a complex social and educational problem, cooperation among schools and families, as guided and instructed by state and federal laws, can help build stronger, harmonious school communities free from bullying. This will support federal mandates of all student being provided a Free and Appropriate Public Education. These laws and research further support the need for educators, parents and students to work together toward a common goal of identifying, addressing, and decreasing bullying and cyberbullying behaviors •

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John T. Spoede, Jr. Ph.D., D.Min., LPC-S, LCDC, NCC, CSC is an Assistant Professor of Education in the School of Education in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Houston, Baptist University, Houston, Texas. Email: jspoede@hbu.edu Angela Spoede, J.D. was a teacher before becoming an attorney in Texas. She practices appellate law and is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Examiners in the area of civil appeals.

References Council for Exceptional Children (2018). Retrieved from cec.sped.org on August 17, 2018. Lawner, E.K. & Trezian, M.A. (2013). What works for bullying programs: Lessons from experimental evaluations of programs and interventions. Research Briefs: Child Trend, 2013(39). Retrieved from childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/briefing_bullying5_anm1.pdf on August 17, 2018. Pacer Center (2018). Retrieved from pacer.org on August 17, 2018. Spoede, J. & Reed, D. (2016) What Parents of Exceptional Children Should Know about the Latest Research Related to Bullying. Exceptional Parent, 38-39. Spoede, J. & Reed, D. (2015) Issue Update: Special Education and Bullying. DiaLog- Journal of the Texas Educational Diagnosticians' Association, 17-20. Texas Education Code (2018). Sections 37.0832 (current through 2017). Retreived from statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.37.htm on August 17, 2018. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018). Stopbullying.gov. Retrieved from stopbul- lying.gov on August 17, 2018.

STEPPING IN: Parents should spend more time with their children and their children's friends, so that they can observe interactions and notice changes in behavior or social interactions that might indicate that their child is a bully or is being bullied.