The U.S. Department of Education recently observed that children from Muslim families, Arab American children, and boys from Sikh families that wear religious head coverings are at increased risk to be targets of bullying as a result of backlash from recent domestic and international terror attacks. In the aftermath of the Paris attacks and San Bernadino shootings, the Anti-Defamation league reported that more than 75 anti-Muslim incidents received media coverage in the United States from mid-November to mid-December of last year. An incident at an Ohio middle school was included in this count.
In addition to the backlash from terrorist activity, the cacophony of the 2016 presidential election campaign has included widely-reported misstatements about the proclivity of certain racial groups toward violence and crime, calls to ban refugees and immigrants from entering the country, promises to overturn recent advancements in LGBT rights, and vows to ban the practice of certain religions in the United States. As the presidential race becomes increasingly discordant, and some candidates model behavior that certainly would not be tolerated in the classroom, it seems a good time to review the requirements of Ohio’s anti-bullying statutes and share some resources to assist school administrators in dealing with problems that may arise in their districts.
Under R.C. 3133.666, school boards are required to adopt anti-bullying policies. Under the statute, there are two types of bullying. Violence within a dating relationship is one type of bullying prohibited by statute. The other type of bullying is “Any intentional written, verbal, electronic, or physical act that a student has exhibited toward another particular student more than once” and the behavior both:
- Causes mental or physical harm to the other student; and
- Is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for the other student.
The Board’s policy for bullying must be included in employee training and appear in student handbooks and any publications that set forth the comprehensive rules, procedures and standards of conduct for schools and students in the district. The board also must make an explanation of the seriousness of cyberbullying available to students in the district and to their custodial parents or guardians.
The Ohio Department of Education has created fact sheets with strategies and resources to address the issue of bullying for parents of young children, parents of teens, and school personnel. The department also maintains a website with guidance for policy development, educator resources, and additional parent resources, among many other topics. You can access the resource page here.
At the national level, a recent Dear Colleague letter from the U.S. Department of Education called for schools to remain vigilant about remaining a safe space for students, especially in the context of race, religion and national origin. The letter includes resources to assist districts with maintaining an educational environment free from harassment. One such resource is stopbullying.gov, which, among other things, provides resources addressing bullying against certain groups of students, such as LGBT youth, youth with special needs, youth that are minorities by virtue of race, faith or national origin.
Beyond bullying, the U.S. Department of Justice has a Community Relations Service (CRS) that assists school districts struggling with tensions arising from differences of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and disability. CRS is not an investigatory or prosecutorial agency, and does not have any law enforcement authority; it works in a consultative role with schools to assist in training, developing strategies specific to the district, and facilitating discussion within the school community to address school conflicts. Contact information for the Midwestern Regional Office of CRS, which covers Ohio, can be found here.