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Bullying Awareness & Prevention
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The School District of Palm Beach County is committed to changing the culture for all students by spreading awareness and sharing prevention strategies using the MTSS for Bullying model to build a safe school environment.
Bullying Policy
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The School District of Palm Beach County adopted Policy 5.002, Protecting Students from Bullying and Harassment, to provide a safe, secure, civil, and respectful learning and workplace environment free from bullying and harassment of any kind. This policy is designed to provide a specific, focused, coordinated, integrated, and culturally sensitive system of support for all students, staff, and administrators.
Policy 5.002 defines bullying (including "Cyberbullying") as systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students or employees. It is further defined as unwanted and repeated written, verbal, or physical behavior, including any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, by a student or adult, that is severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment; cause discomfort or humiliation; or unreasonably interfere with the individual's school performance or participation.
Bullying may involve but is not limited to:
- Teasing
- Social Exclusion
- Threat
- Intimidation
- Stalking
- Physical Violence
- Theft
- Sexual, Religious, or Racial/Ethnic Harassment
- Public or Private Humiliation
- Destruction of Property
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Bullying Awareness & Prevention Curriculum
Below are resources for students on bullying awareness and prevention.
- Bullying Lesson Plans
- Grades PK-12
- Contains 5 detailed lesson plans with Language Arts Florida Standards per grade that entail a variety of topics tailored to the appropriate grade levels.
- Bullying Presentation for Students
- All students
- Contains an overview of bullying awareness and prevention
- Unity Day Guide
- schools, communities, and individuals
- contains information and resources on how we can show support for Unity Day
- Bullying Lesson Plans
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Bullying Support
Below are ways to support someone who is being bullied:- Focus on your child. Listen, be supportive, and gather information and the facts related to the incident.
- Stay calm and report the incident(s) to your child’s teacher, school counselor, assistant principal and/or principal. Document all incidents of mistreatment, abuse, cruelty, and/or disrespectful acts toward your child and or perpetrated by your child.
- Request that you be informed or schedule a follow-up conference to discuss findings and determine actions to monitor and support all students involved, as well as to deter continued and/or escalation of incidents.
- Seek resources to assist you in strengthening your child’s resiliency toward harm - See Parent Handouts at the Pacer Center.
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Bullying Investigation
The investigation begins with a report of a bullying or harassment act.
Qualified bullying incidents must include all 3 elements:
- Repetitive - occurred more than once
- Imbalance of Power - The reported aggressor has an advantage over the reported victim. Imbalance of power for bullying involves the use of physical strength, popularity, or access to embarrassing information to hurt or control another person.
- Purposeful Actions - Not an accident; action is done with intent
Qualified bullying incidents must be documented using SDPBC forms:
- 2508 - Student Bullying, Harassment, and Teen Dating Violence Report
- 2509 - Student Investigation Summary
- 2597 - Student Investigation Evidence
Use this flowchart for guidance.
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Report a Bullying Incident
There are three ways to report a bullying incident:- Call the District Bullying Hotline at 561-434-8200.
- Click here to complete the District Bullying Report.
- Click here to complete a School-site Bullying/Harassment Anonymous Drop-Box Report and file it in the drop boxes placed at various locations on the campus. Reporting is not tattling when the intention is to alert the teacher and/or administration of any harmful acts of mistreatment toward your child or others.
