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46 Principal Leadership January 201646 Principal Leadership January 2016

Why UPS THE

Principal Leadership January 2016 47

BY LINDA BILLE

A new law on Internet harassment brings new ways to prevent abuse

Cyberbullying UPS THEAnte

More states are passing laws specifically regulating bullying and

harassment in schools. Although these laws vary, the message is clear:

Bullying and harassment will not be tolerated.

In New York, for example, the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA)

mandates that school districts:

• Include instruction that supports the development of a discrimination- free culture

• Establish a code of conduct addressing harassment, which includes response guidelines

• Designate a Dignity Act Coordinator and provide employee training to raise awareness

• Provide employees with a way to prevent and respond to incidents of discrimination and/or harassment

At Algonquin Middle School in Averill Park, NY, we embraced this

mandate. We had been providing antiharassment and bullying

48 Principal Leadership January 2016

awareness in our curriculum for five years. The Code of Conduct was

swiftly changed and additional training was implemented. I became

the Dignity Act Coordinator which, at the time, seemed to be just

overseeing what already was being done and being a point person for

students who felt harassed. Effective July 2013, the act was amended

to include cyberbullying that occurred at home, which could create

a potential risk of disruption within the school environment. Schools

were forced to look beyond routine forms of discipline in an effort to

end harassment. As educators, it is now essential that we protect our

students in new ways, as harassment is entering our students’ homes

through the ever-changing phenomenon of social media.

A Call to Arms The nature of cyberbullying is complex and new, and as a result we

need a multipronged approach to intervention. Due to the herculean

task of addressing all bullying that occurs on social media sites, we

decided to reach out to other agencies to develop alternate strategies

to address these issues more successfully.

The Rensselaer County School Safety Task Force was developed

as a joint venture between the Averill Park Central School District, the

Rensselaer County Probation Department, and Rensselaer County

Office of Mental Health to address the increasing

burden placed on schools to handle the problem

of cyber harassment. As a result of reaching out to

these agencies, they, in turn, invited Child Protective

Services, the Rensselaer County Attorney’s Office,

local law enforcement agencies, and other school

districts to join. The goal of the agency was simple:

Help us implement new approaches to decrease

harassment in light of the new landscape of cyber-

bullying (see sidebar on page 49).

It Takes a Team Effort The problem of cyberbullying is a complex one.

Because of this, we employ a multidisciplinary model

that includes prevention efforts to improve school

climate, law enforcement intervention to provide

motivation for change, and, if necessary for chronic

offenders, a chance to involve mental health services

with a unique treatment approach designed to

address that specific issue.

Rensselaer County Probation Officers Christine

Miner and Kate Rose developed an interactive

program targeting grades 7–9 on safe social media

use and the effects of making poor choices on

social networking sites. They outline this program

in all school districts that have joined the coalition.

Additionally, the program addresses the legal

consequences of poor social media choices, such

as “sexting” as a minor. These very dedicated

As educators, it is now essential that we protect our students in new ways, as harassment is entering our students’ homes through the ever-changing phenomenon of social media.

THE RENSSELAER COUNTY SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE: DEFINING PARAMETERS

1. Meetings must be manageable—one hour, once a month. No exceptions. The group is comprised of police officers, attorneys, superintendents, principals, probation officers, etc., all of whom are extremely busy.

2. Meetings are run efficiently with a clear agenda. We allow 50 minutes to discuss agenda items; the last 10 minutes we assign tasks to members to complete before the next meeting.

3. Any ongoing, significant harassment issue takes precedence over an existing agenda item. Knowing how to effectively prioritize is paramount.

4. Meetings must produce tangible outcomes. The outcome should not be yet another meeting to discuss the agenda for the next meeting.

Principal Leadership January 2016 49

officers also created a program for staff and parents to keep them

apprised of the most recent social media sites, current issues, and

preferred responses.

Police Protocols Law enforcement officers have helped area school districts understand

certain protocols that need to be followed in situations involving

sexual social media contact with a minor. Without realizing it, schools

can sometimes inadvertently undermine a police investigation. The

coalition has helped school districts develop a flow chart of actions that

should be taken prior to a probation officer’s involvement with the goal

of providing the district with guidance and outlining specifically what

services were being provided to students who have been harassed.

It is an important step that should be done by every district that is

truly invested in improving school climate.

Mental Health Services Working with Rensselaer County Mental Health provider Michelle

Marte, a program was developed to more effectively address

chronic cyber harassers—the bully who does not respond to the

deluge of in-school consequences, mediation, phone calls to the

home, and parent meetings. This type of harasser presents us with

a need to re-examine what we have historically

thought about bullies (that kids bully because

they were bullied and because they suffer from low

self-esteem). In this case, our target demographic

becomes the harasser who does not appear to

struggle with self-esteem issues and, in fact, seems

to have a heightened sense of self. The approach

incorporates family counseling to assist parents

in setting limits and imposing consequences, and

offers law enforcement involvement to mandate

the harasser to treatment. Without such a mandate,

both the offender and his or her family will likely drop

out of counseling.

Addressing cyberbullying will continue to change

as technology morphs into the next popular thing.

Our job as educators is to look beyond what has

become routine and embrace new forms of discipline

that protect our students as much as possible.

Linda Bille is a certified social worker who has worked

for the Averill Park Central School District in Averill Park, NY,

for 15 years.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT AN ANTIBULLYING AND HARASSMENT PROGRAM—INCLUDING CYBERBULLYING—IN YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT: Ask for help. Ask people you trust and who are interested to join a coalition. This is your initiative,

not a state mandate, so invite only positive, self-

motivated people.

Keep your mission simple. Developing a mission statement can provide good guidelines, but don’t let its

formation eat up lots of time. Come to your first meeting

with a basic mission, and try to reach consensus. It

should take 10 minutes.

Invite people from different disciplines. It is essential to have many different perspectives and

many different experts at your table (law enforcement,

county mental health professionals, etc.).

Get administrative support. We have a series of superintendents and principals attending our meetings.

Without district support at high levels, this initiative never

would have gotten off the ground.

Come in with a very basic agenda. Let the group tell you what is needed. We have five to six districts at our

coalition meeting each month, and each has presented a

unique scenario and need for the group’s consideration

and feedback.

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