Report Bullying
Bullying
No student should be subjected to bullying or harassment that interferes with their ability to learn. No student should be subjected to safety problems that can result from bullying and harassment.
School safety is a priority and we take complaints of bullying very seriously.
What is bullying?
How is bullying defined?
Bullying as defined in State law means overt, repeated acts or gestures, including verbal or written communications or images transmitted in any manner (including digitally or electronically), physical acts committed, or any other behaviors committed by a student or group of students against another student with the intent to harass, ridicule, humiliate, intimidate, or harm the targeted student and create for the targeted student an objectively hostile school environment that:
places the targeted student in reasonable fear of harm to the targeted student's person or property;
has a substantially detrimental effect on the targeted student's physical or mental health;
has the effect of substantially interfering with the targeted student's academic performance; or
has the effect of substantially interfering with the targeted student's ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, and privileges provided by the school.
However, Indiana law exempts the following from the definition of "bullying":
Participating in a religious event.
Acting in an emergency involving the protection of a person or property from an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or substantial danger.
Participating in an activity consisting of the exercise of a student's rights protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, Section 31 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana, or both.
Participating in an activity conducted by a nonprofit or governmental entity that provides recreation, education, training, or other care under the supervision of one or more adults.
Participating in an activity undertaken at the prior written direction of the student's parent.
Engaging in interstate or international travel from a location outside Indiana to another location outside Indiana.
What is cyberbullying?
The definition of bullying includes cyberbullying. This applies to:
bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school property or to the site of a school-related activity on or off school property;
bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for transportation of students to or from school-related activity; and
cyberbullying that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school-related event, if the conduct interferes with a student's educational opportunities or substantially disrupts the operations of school, classroom, or school-related activity.
What does board policy say about bullying?
Review our district's board policies related to bullying:
Bullying investigation process
Please read through the five steps below to learn more about our bullying investigation process.
Step 1: Bullying report
The bullying investigation process is initiated as soon as a complaint or allegation of bullying is received. Teachers and staff members are required to report acts of bullying.
We encourage students, parents or guardians to report acts of bullying to a teacher, counselor or administrator either in person, by using the incident report form below. This tool allows you to report urgent student concerns quickly to school officials via the webform.
In the event of an emergency or life-threatening event, it is always imperative to call 911.
Step 2: Investigation by school administration
All complaints about bullying behavior that may violate this policy shall be investigated in an expedited manner. The investigation will be initiated within one (1) school day of the report to the designated school administrator and will ordinarily be completed within ten (10) school days. Information relating to the investigation will be gathered using means including, but not limited to: witness interviews, request for written witness statements, record identification and review, and an assessment of whether bullying occurred.
Step 3: Bullying determination
Administration will review information and determine if the bullying claim is valid.
Keep in mind that even if a behavior was not considered to rise to the level of bullying, it may still require intervention and discipline.
Step 4: Notification of findings
Parents of all students involved will be informed of the incident and whether the complaint was determined to be bullying or not.
Alexandria Community School Corporation Full Bulling Policy can be reviewed below