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Protecting Hoosier students by Wendy McNamara
Our children deserve to be safe. While concerns about bullying and cyberbullying continue to grow, I remain committed to help achieve that goal. Bullying comes in many forms – physical, verbal, social and cyber – and can even cross the line into criminal behavior. As an educator, I know how unnerving the possibility of this situation can be.
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There are laws to prevent this type of behavior including a law I authoredthat adds cellphones to the definition of cyberbullying and requires the Department of Education, State Board of Education and school corporations to clearly identify resources for cyberbullying on their website.
All schools must adopt policies prohibiting bullying and determine appropriate responses, and must establish investigation and reporting procedures. School administrations are required to distribute a discipline plan to students and parents.Students in grades 1-12 undergo age appropriate, research-based instruction on bullying prevention. State law directs schools to quickly reach out to both parents of the involved students. Click here to learn more on how to recognize, prevent and report bullying. The Indiana Department of Education also maintains a resource page on anti-bullying school policy if you have additional questions. |
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