PLU Credit Activities

Activity 1: Anti-Bullying Summit, July 10-12, 2013

Leaders will attend the national Anti-Bullying Summit, July 10-12 in Mobile, AL, hosted by Auburn University's Truman Pierce Institute and the Office of Professional and Continuing Education. (An equitable substitute MUST be approved by the TPI PLU supervisor). The Summit schedule, key presenter information, and workshop guidelines can be viewed at www.auburn.edu/antibullying.

Activity 2: Faculty/Staff Orientation to Bullying Intervention (August 2012)

Because all school personnel are responsible for complying with Alabama anti-bullying law and system's bullying policies, ALL faculty and staff (including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, aides, etc) will attend the Orientation meeting.

In preparation for leading the meeting, leaders will carefully review Alabama's law on bullying (HB2016), any related pending legislation, and the school system's bullying policy. Leaders should also review US Deptartment of Education's Analysis of State Bullying Laws and Policies, a document that compares laws from all 50 states, and should consider requirements in other state laws that might strengthen Alabama's. Copies of Alabama's law and the school system's policies should be printed for dispersal or included in faculty handbooks.

During the Faculty/Staff meeting, leaders will:

• Share research and information about bullying collected at the Anti-Bullying Summit
• Discuss Alabama's existing law and any pending legislation pertaining to bullying with faculty/staff. Laws may be reviewed at these websites:
  • http://alex.state.al.us/stopbullying/node/17
  • http://www.olweus.org/public/laws_alabama.page
  • http://www.bullypolice.org/AL_law2009HB0216.pdf
• Review school district's policy on bullying with faculty and consider areas in which it might be strengthened. Is the school district's bullying policy posted in all classrooms and on the website? How are students and parent/guardians informed of the system bullying policy and penalties for bullying? Does school policy address cyberbullying? Does school policy clearly state consequences for bullying, particularly when there are recurring infractions? Compile suggested revisions for submission to the Superintendent for the school board's consideration.
• Review system's bullying incident documentation forms and procedures and discuss any changes that should be made. Alabama's harassment law requires "a clearly defined procedure for students to use in reporting harassment, including, but not limited to, written reports on local board approved complaint forms and written reports of instances of harassment, intimidation, violence, and threats of violence based on the personal characteristics of a student" (Ala. Code -16-28B-4). If the system has no documentation form and procedure in place, provide faculty with a model incident documentation form and solicit input from faculty prior to submission to system leaders for approval. Incident report examples:
  • http://www.bullystoppers.com
  • http://www.cyberbullying.us/cyberbullying_incident_tracking_form.pdf

Documentation as follows will be submitted electronically to the PLU Supervisor: A summary of the faculty meeting, a copy of the school system's policy (including incident reporting procedure and bullying consequences), and suggested revisions to existing policy derived from faculty discussion for submission to Superintendent.

Activity 3: Faculty/Stakeholder Meeting 1: Working Together for Change (September/October 2013)

Attendees: all faculty, staff reps from each school department, parent leaders, school board reps, student leaders, community leaders. Student leaders might be from school's service and other organizations (e.g., Key Club, Letter Club, Anchor Club, Beta Club, Band). They can set examples for other students by intervening on behalf of victims or by reporting trouble sites. Community leaders might be drawn from law enforcement, Boys and Girls Club, counseling services, churches, youth sports leagues, scouting, etc.

Prior to the meeting, leaders will read Bullying at School and Online, a free downloadable e-book available at http://www.education.com/static/ebook/education-com-bullying-ebook.pdf (attached to PLU application) and will provide this link to all who will be attending, asking that they read the e-book as a framework for informed discussion. Leaders may recommend additional reading links listed at the end of each section in the e-book if the articles address issues applicable to their own schools.

Prior to the meeting, leaders will use survey data to identify the major problems for "Focus Committee" Topics. Possibilities: Bullying Reporting, Patrolling Problem Sites, Mediation Strategies, Engaging Bystanders, Cyberbullying, School Assemblies, Anti-Bullying Competitions, Victim Training, Teaching Tolerance (or others that leaders choose)

At meeting leaders will:

• Share information from student surveys, which can shed light on the 5 W's of Bullying incidents (who, what, where, when, why)
• Divide attendees into appropriate Focus Committees who will:
  1. explore intervention strategies and return to next Stakeholder meeting with possible solutions
  2. recruit additional community stakeholders and parent volunteers to assist in interventions
• Appoint a chairperson for each committee who is responsible for setting committee meetings
• Set a date for the next Stakeholder meeting, at which committees will share ideas and have community support in place

Committees will consider:

• How can "trouble" spots on and off campus be made safe?
• How can we prevent specific populations (ethnic group, special needs, etc) from being targeted, and how can we train them to protect themselves?
• What effective behavior modification strategies can help bullies?
• Is cyberbullying taking place? Type? Solutions?
• How can victims or bystanders report bullying anonymously? (AnonymousTips.com available free at the ALEX website, or http://www.anonymoustips.com/school-tips.php) (Other anonymous reporting options are also available, though some, such as "Talk About It" and "iNsight", are not free.)

Documentation: Leaders will electronically submit a report to the PLU supervisor listing the meeting date/place, attendees, their role (parent, student, teacher, police officer, etc), their Focus Committee, and responses to "Bullying in School and Online" article.

Activity 4: Fall Bullying Survey Distribution and Analysis (October 2013)

To determine types and frequencies of bullying in their schools, leaders will develop and distribute a Bullying Survey and analyze the results. FREE downloadable models may be found at these as well as other sites:

• http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/TM/WS_bully_survey.shtml (Education World)
• http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/BullyCompendiumBk-a.pdf (This excellent 117-page document published by the Center for Disease Control includes numerous model surveys as well as research and is attached to the PLU application)
• http://www.ncpc.org/resources/files/pdf/bullying/the-bully-situation-survey.pdf (National Crime Prevention Council)
• http://www.tolerance.org/activity/bullying-survey (Teaching Tolerance Website)
• http://pathway-pals.tripod.com/Index_files/Bully_Survey (Pathway Pals Educational Resources)

Leaders should solicit input from faculty peers and from the PLU supervisor in development of or selecting the survey to be distributed to students in their school. Questions should be framed carefully and appropriate to grade level; survey should not be intimidating in length or complexity. ALL students will complete the survey anonymously. Homeroom teachers will distribute and collect the surveys and will be accountable for turning in a completed survey for every student enrolled in their homerooms.

Data from the survey will be compiled for analysis. Leaders will identify patterns, such as locations and times and consider whether ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, participation in athletics, or grade level appear to play a role in the bullying. Leaders will invite communications from counselors and coaches who may be able to provide additional insight and perspective. Leaders will also supervise quantitative data collection showing school absences, as well as bullying-related discipline referrals, fights, parent conferences, and counseling sessions. By studying changes in this data over a period of time, leaders may assess whether or not anti-bullying interventions are impacting student behavior choices and school climate. NOTE: Leaders may engage a community partner, such as statisticians in a higher ed institute or a state agency, a mental health organization, or a law enforcement agency to work with them in data compilation and analysis.

Documentation: A copy of the survey instrument and results from the compiled data will be submitted electronically to the supervising PLU administrator.

Activity 5: Faculty/Stakeholder Meeting II: Committee Reports (November 2013)

Leaders will explore articles from this important website that addresses a range of bullying issues for sharing with Committee Members: http://www.education.com/topic/school-bullying-teasing/, Leaders will select one or more articles that are applicable to situations at their schools for assignment as faculty readings.

Leaders will read "Stop Bullying Behaviors: Advice for Parents and Caregivers" by Professor Daniel Olweus. Daniel Olweus is one of the world's leaders in bullying research and intervention. Prior to the Stakeholder meeting, leaders will share this link or distribute copies of the article with all committee members and ask that they read as part of their research.

At the Stakeholder meeting, leader will ask committees to share intervention ideas or proposed solutions with other faculty, parents, students, and community stakeholders at the meeting for input. Following discussion, solutions will be selected for implementation and timelines set for achievement of the goals. Subsequent Stakeholder meeting dates will be set.

Documentation: Leaders will electronically submit the following to the PLU administrator:

1. Title of the article from http://www.education.com/topic/school-bullying-teasing assigned to faculty and rationale for its selection
2. Responses to assigned article, "Stopping Bullying Behaviors, by Daniel Olweus
3. Summary of the stakeholder meeting, including date, attendee names, and solutions selected for continued implementation

Activity 6: Schoolwide Anti-Bullying Assembly (November/December 2013)

Leaders will organize a schoolwide assembly focusing on School Bullying. Student-driven intervention strategies described in the free brochure from Pathway Pals can form a framework for a school-wide Anti-Bullying Campaign among students (or other resources selected by leaders).

The assembly should:

• Reiterate school system bullying policies that are posted in classrooms
• Serve as a vehicle through which to inform students how to report bullying incidents (some systems have Help lines and drop boxes for notes, which protect victims' anonymity)
• Feature a motivational community leader, perhaps from an agency that works with victims of bullying

This Assembly, or additional Follow-Up Assemblies scheduled as part of the school's sustained Anti-Bullying campaign, might also:

• Initiate the school-wide Anti-bullying campaign by holding anti-bullying poster, photo, short video, or skit competitions. Arts, Speech/Theatre, and Language Arts teachers could incorporate these activities into lessons that also meet state standards. Community partners might offer prizes to individuals or to a class that created the winning poster, video, skit, photo, PSA, etc. Prizes could be free movie passes, tickets to sporting events, pizza party or skating party for the winning class, gift certificates to favorite youth restaurants or businesses, etc. These types of contests will build student enthusiasm and commitment to anti-bullying
• Show the video "Bullied: A Student, A School, and A Case that Made History" (available with Teacher Guide free to schools through the Teaching Tolerance website) OR selected scenes from the films The Bully (director Lee Hirsch, 2011) or Bang, Bang You're Dead (director William Mastrosimone, 2002), Teacher Guide for movie "Bang Bang You're Dead"
• Have the drama club stage selected scenes from the plays Bang, Bang You're Dead (playwright William Mastrosimone, 1999, based on events surrounding Kip Kinkel's murder of 27 classmates in Oregon, 1997) or from The Bullycide Project (playwright Lorie Thompson, 2010, based on Brenda High's book Bullycide in America, true stories of youth who committed suicide following bullying) if bullying-related suicides have impacted their school.

These activities will complement other Character Education initiatives within the school.

Documentation: Leaders will invite the PLU supervisor to attend the assembly. Or, a report of this activity, including date, speakers and their topics, names of videos shown (if applicable), contest rules (if applicable)and community partner participants in the activity will be submitted electronically to the PLU supervisor.

Activity 7: Schoolwide Recognition Assembly (March/April 2014)

This Assembly may be a "Culmination" event following other Anti-Bullying assemblies that may have taken place during the school year as part of a sustained campaign. Leaders will invite all stakeholders and make sure that publicity is given.

The Assembly will provide:

• Updates and encouragement to students on progress with Anti-Bullying initiatives
• A guest motivational speaker to inspire continued Anti-Bullying behaviors
• Recognition of Parents and Community Partners who have donated services, resources, and possibly contest prizes to Anti-Bullying projects
• Recognition of student leaders, staff, and faculty who have contributed ideas and time to their committees meetings and intervention activities
• Awards to winners of poster, video, skit, PSA, etc. contests if these have been part of the Anti-Bullying Initiative
• Performance of winning anti-bullying skits (if applicable)

Documentation: Leaders will communicate plans for the Assembly to the PLU supervisor and will electronically submit documentation to the PLU supervisor. Program summary with date, speakers, and competition winners, video clips of Assembly, or publicity from local news agencies would build a documentation file.

Activity 8: Spring Bullying Survey: Distribution and Analysis (March/April, 2014)

Leaders will:

• Have homeroom teachers distribute and collect student bullying surveys, using same format as the Fall Survey. Again, these will be completed anonymously by every enrolled student.
• Compile the data and compare the information to results from the Fall Student Bullying Survey

Leaders will also analyze attendance records, discipline referrals, and counseling records to see how school and community anti-bullying efforts have modified behavior and/or affected the school climate.

Documentation: A written summary of the information derived from the Student Bullying Surveys and the leaders' analysis of anti-bullying efforts on student behaviors, including attendance and discipline referrals, will be submitted electronically to the PLU administrator.

Activity 9: Faculty/Stakeholder Meeting III: Project Assessment and Continued Planning (April, 2014)

The Faculty/Stakeholder meeting may be organized with the following agenda: Leaders will:

• Share data from Spring Student Bullying Surveys. Questions to consider: Do the surveys reflect that students feel safer? Have problem areas changed or been eliminated? Have victimized groups changed or been eliminated? Does there appear to be a reduction in bullying victims? Has cyberbullying increased or diminished?
• Direct reflection on accomplishments and areas for further improvement
• Invite Committee leaders to share accomplishments and concerns
• Establish new goals and new committees as appropriate
• Identify faculty, staff, and/or community stakeholders to attend the 2014 Anti-Bullying Conference, ideally as a school team, for continued training

Documentation: Leaders will electronically submit a summary of this meeting. Summary will include date, names of meeting attendees, overview of accomplishments, new goals/committees, and names of person(s) selected for continued training at the 2014 Anti-Bullying Summit.

Last Updated:November 13, 2012