Legal and Ethical Implications of Bullying February 19th, 2015 Nick Marchi Kimberly DeBoth Brittney Moore Dr. Maria Hernández Finch

Overview ● Indiana Anti-Bullying Law ● Best Practices in Bully Prevention ● Special Education Considerations ● Cyberbullying ● Bullying and LGBTQIA

Indiana Anti-Bullying Law ●P.L (Indiana General Assembly, 2013; Office of Code Revision, 2013) ○ Requires schools to develop curriculum and standards related to identification, prevention and intervention for bullying ○ School anti-bullying plan must be research based and age appropriate

Bullying Defined ● Categories of bullying for mandated school reporting: o Physical: hurting a person’s body or possessions o Verbal: saying mean things o Social/Relational: hurting someone’s reputation or relationships o Electronic or Written Communication: cyberbullying, note writing, or bullying using any electronic devices

Bully Prevention Plan Best Practices

Special Education Considerations ●Protect rights of students with disabilities: ○ Section 504 ○ IDEIA (DOE “Dear Colleague” Letter) ● Free appropriate public education (FAPE) ● Bullying students with disabilities- denies FAPE ●“Disability-based Harassment” ●Federal Protections ( Lhamon, 2014; Wright & Wright, 2014)

Special Education Considerations What is the school’s responsibility? ●Immediate and appropriate action ●Investigate ●Determine if there is a hostile environment ○ Interfere with services and activities ●Steps to end bullying and improve environment ●Case Conference Meeting (Lhamon, 2014)

Cyberbullying Methods of Cyberbullying: ● , instant messaging, chat rooms, social media sites, text messaging, web sites, and internet polling School’s Responsibility: ●School policy vs. freedom of speech ●Implement effective programs based individual need ●Parent involvement- internet monitoring ●Prevention- increase awareness (Beale, 2007; Diamanduros, Downs, & Jenkins, 2008; Merrell, Gueldner, Ross, & Isava, 2008)

Bullying and LGBTQIA National School Climate Survey (2009): ● 9 out of 10 LGBT students experienced harassment in past year ● 2/3 felt unsafe ● 1/3 skipped school for safety concerns (Greene, Britton, & Fitts, 2014)

What does it look like? ● Homophobic speech o Direct o Subtle ● Taunting ● Ridicule ● Intimidation ● Physical violence (Greene, Britton, & Fitts, 2014; Hillard, Love, Franks, Laris, & Coyle, 2014)

Short Term Outcomes ● Reduced school attendance ● Lower grades ● Feeling unsafe in school ● More sexual risk-taking ● Substance abuse (Greene, Britton, & Fitts, 2014; Hillard, Love, Franks, Laris, & Coyle, 2014)

Long Term Outcomes ● STIs ● Depression ● Anxiety ● PTSD ● Suicide ● Low self-esteem ● Less life satisfaction (Greene, Britton, & Fitts, 2014; Hillard, Love, Franks, Laris, & Coyle, 2014)

Supporting LGBTQIA Students ● S chools o Respect privacy/confidentiality o Policies o Counseling o Advocacy Groups – Gay-Straight Alliances o Openly discuss bullying! ● Community o Support groups o Awareness events (United States Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.)

Helping LGBTQIA Students in Crisis ● The Trevor Project o ● Gay-Straight Alliance Network o ● CDC Website o resources.htm

References Beale, A. V., & Hall, K. R. (2007). Cyberbullying: What School Administrators (And Parents) Can Do. Clearing house: A journal of educational strategies, issues and ideas, 81(1), Diamanduros, T., Downs, E., & Jenkins, S. J. (2008). The role of school psychologists in the assessment, prevention, and intervention of cyberbullying. Psychology in the Schools, 45 (8), Greene, D. C., Britton, P. J., & Fitts, B. (2014). Long-Term Outcomes of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Recalled School Victimization. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(4), Hillard, P., Love, L., Franks, H. M., Laris, B. A., & Coyle, K. K. (2014). 'They Were Only Joking': Efforts to Decrease LGBTQ Bullying and Harassment in Seattle Public Schools. Journal Of School Health, 84(1), 1-9. Indiana Department of Education. (2015). Bullying defined. Retrieved from: services/bullying-prevention-intervention-indianahttp:// services/bullying-prevention-intervention-indiana Indiana General Assembly (2013). House enrolled act no First Regular Session 118th General Assembly. Retrieved from: HE pdf

References continued Lhamon, C. E. (2014). Dear colleague letter on bullying of students with disabilities. Retrieved from: Merrell, K.W., Gueldner, B.A., Ross, S.W., & Isava, D.M. (2008). How effective are school bullying intervention programs? A meta-analysis of intervention research. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(1), Office of Code Revision (2013). IC Retrieved from code/title5/ar2/ch10.1.html#IC Rose, C. A. & Monda-Amaya (2011). Bullying and victimization among students with disabilities: Effective strategies for classroom teachers. Intervention in School and Clinic. doi: / United States Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.). Bullying and LGBT youth. Retrieved from: Wright, P. W. D. & Wright, P. D. (2014). Discrimination: Section 504 and ADA. Retrieved from: