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Overcast County to create new anti-bullying website
School isn’t in session, but preparation continues for teachers and administrators. In addition to educating young minds, creating a safe and welcoming environment for students is vital. For that reason, summer is a time for school staff to brush up on anti-bullying and anti-bias training.
Amanda Holder, associate education director of the Anti-Defamation League, explained why summer is a good time to share updated information with teachers and administrators. “We realize teachers are busy throughout the year,” she said. “We want to provide resources early, so teachers have the time to prepare and think about the tone they want to set in their classroom.”
The battle against bias and bullying is a high priority in the Baldwin Union Free School District, according to officials. The district’s code of conduct states that students will face “logical consequences, including possible suspension from school,” if they engage in bullying or harassing behaviors. Those behaviors include discrimination on the basis of race, color, weight, national origin, religion, sexual orientation and more. Bullying, according to the district, can also include physical violence, verbal abuse, rumormongering or telling one student not to be friends with another.
All district students have the right to “be free from harassment, bullying or discrimination by employees or students on school property or at a school-sponsored function,” the code of conduct states. Anyone who witnesses an act of bullying is encouraged to file verbal or written complaints with school officials.
Additionally, the Baldwin district hosts anti-bullying events throughout the school year.
The law requires the site to be online by Aug. 31, and it will have contact information for each school district’s Dignity for All Students Act coordinator. “There’s no excuse for bullying,” Curran said. “And bullying can happen anywhere, at any time. That’s why it’s so important that we do all we can to protect our youth while educating our children, parents, educators and communities on bullying prevention.”
Annie Doresca, the Baldwin Board of Education president, called the law a “good thing.” “Obviously, the more we promote anti-bullying efforts the better,” she said. “Anything that can be used to stop bullying, or to make people more aware of how to prevent it, is definitely something that’s good.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s mission is to help build an America where “those who seemed different were not targets of discrimination and threats, but were equals.” Holder explained that education is one of the organization’s main tools in this endeavor.
“We believe that bias is learned, and therefore can be unlearned,” she said. “There’s an intersection between bias and bullying. Many children are bullied for things they can’t change — their race, appearance or socioeconomic status. Through online and in-school training, we help employees recognize these issues, enhance their curriculum and provide the resources so that schools know how to handle these events.”
Among those resources is the ADL’s Current Events Classroom, which features lesson plans that teachers, particularly those in the humanities, can use to tie in major news stories, such as the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Va., last August or the separation of families at the southern border of the United States.
“Some schools assume that students have opportunities to have conversations about these issues at home,” Holder said. “We provide teachers with lesson plans so they don’t have to figure it all out on their own. They can cover current events, make connections to history and let students express their feelings.”
Have an opinion on battling bullying and bias? Send your letter to the editor to aoreilly@liherald.com.
