Dignity For All Students Act DASA

DASA NYS Law passed last year, in effect July, 2012 Response to recent tragedies and lawsuits regarding acts of bullying in schools Requires districts and schools to prevent, monitor and address harassment, discrimination and bullying.

DASA Race Color Weight National Origin Ethnic Group Religion Religious Practice Disability Sexual Orientation Sex Gender Identity Protected classes - No student shall be subjected to discrimination based on their actual or perceived:

What is bullying? Deliberate – a bully’s intention to hurt someone Repeated – a bully often targets the same victim again and again Power imbalance – a bully chooses victims he or she perceives as vulnerable Bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior by one or more individuals in order to intentionally hurt another person physically or emotionally. Key components

What is Harassment? Conduct, verbal threats, intimidation, or abuse that reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a student to fear for their safety.

What is Discrimination? The practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.

Physical Verbal (written) Relational Sexual Cyber Types of bullying: Physical Verbal (written) Relational Sexual Cyber Physical – probably least occurring, but most recognized – includes things like hitting, tripping, punching, spitting, etc. but also include property damage. Verbal – includes written statements, name calling, threats, humiliation. Relational – mean girls – exclusion, withdrawing friendship as a way to hurt someone, and ganging up. Sexual - unwanted sexual comments or touching (the victim determines “unwanted” – so don’t say it!!!) Cyber – huge!! Facebook, texts, Jamie Rodemeyer – Springform

Effects of being bullied Lower self-esteem Depression and anxiety Absenteeism and lowered school achievement Thoughts of suicide Self-harm Illness There are serious negative effects for those involved in bullying. Including the victim, the bully, and the bystander.

Concerns about children who bully Children who bully are more likely to: Get into fights and be injured in a fight Steal, vandalize school property Drink alcohol, do drugs Be truant, drop out of school Self-report poorer academic performance Perceive a negative climate at school Carry a weapon

____ times as likely to have 3 or more convictions by age 24. Bullies are….. ____ times as likely to have 3 or more convictions by age 24. - Olweus

4 times as likely to have 3 or more convictions by age 24. Bullies are….. 4 times as likely to have 3 or more convictions by age 24. - Olweus

Effects if Bullying on Bystanders Afraid Powerless to change the situation Guilty for not acting Over time, diminished empathy for others Think of at time when you were a bystander. How did that make you feel? Were you an Upstander – an upstander is a bystander who stands up for the victim in some way? If so, what factors made is safe and effective for you to be an upstander? If you remained a bystander, what factors made it difficult to be an upstander?

5 Areas of Regulation: Policy (Code of Conduct) Civility, citizenship and character education (student instruction) Designation of a Dignity Act Coordinator (reporting and responding) School employee training Regulation in relation to reporting

Character education and lessons on bullying/harassment At your school….. Code of Conduct Character education and lessons on bullying/harassment Dignity Act Coordinator 1. School district will address information that needs to be in the code of conduct. At your school, you need to make sure it gets covered with students. 2. Also, the school needs to provide character education and lessons on bullying and harassment. You may already have some programs in place that can support that. On my teacher page, I have lesson plans that we used at South Park (which may or may not be grade appropriate, but may serve as a jumping off point). We also did a 45 minute presentation to students, that in part, utilized a video about the power of bystanders and that presentation information is also available on my teacher page. 3. Someone in the building needs to serve as The Dignity Act Coordinator. All incidents of bullying, harassment and discrimination will be reported to that person. This includes acts witnessed by any person in the building and includes acts that adults commit against students. Students need to be informed of who to contact and how to contact that person. Three ways to report – Tell DASA Coordinator, tell any adult and that adult tells DASA coordinator (you are responsible to report all incidents to the DASA coordinator) and students can make a report anonymously on the school website.

Report Bullying and Harassment in Room 236 or on the SPHS website Be an Upstander Report Bullying and Harassment in Room 236 or on the SPHS website We developed signs that are posted around our building around the theme of “upstander”. We discussed what an Upstander is with students in the program we did with them. Things upstanders can do to help include reporting the incident, being a friend to the victim, standing up to the bully if it feels safe, helping the victim remove themselves from the situation, getting an adult to intervene, not joining in, laughing, participating or creating an audience, and setting a good example by not being a bully themselves.

School Employee Training All school employees must be trained regarding DASA and reporting procedures. Effective supervision must be in place (expect, correct, connect, protect) All school employees are expected to protect students from bullying and harassment from other students and from adults. All adults are responsible to not commit acts of bullying. 1) ALL school employees – maintenance, cafeteria, aides, etc. 2) Bullying happens where there is not effective supervision – need to ensure effective supervision in your building – find areas where a baby can be made 3) Reference video – YouTube ‘How my son was humiliated and tormented by his teacher aide’. Keepvid Discuss school and individual liability -

What a teacher writes on the blackboard of life can never be erased. Author Unknown Show KINDNESS powerpoint