Bullying and Cyberbullying

No student shall engage in or be subjected to harassment, violence, threats of violence, or intimidation by any other student that is based on any of the specific characteristics. Students who violate this policy will be subjected to disciplinary sanctions.

A student, parent or guardian, or staff member may file a complaint of harassment, intimidation, or bullying pursuant to Board policy. Please complete the Bullying/Harassment Incident Report Form and submit it to the school principal. Results of the investigation will determine the disciplinary action taken. A complainant that falsely accuses someone will also be subject to disciplinary action. 

What is bullying? 

As defined in ACS Policy 6.10.2.2, bullying is a continuous pattern of intentional behavior that takes place on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored function including, but not limited to, cyberbullying, or written, electronic, verbal, or physical acts that are reasonably perceived as being motivated by any characteristic of a student, or by the association of a student with an individual who has a particular characteristic, if the characteristic falls into one of the categories of personal characteristics set forth in the policy. Those characteristics include students' race, sex, religion, national origin, or disability. The entire policy can be viewed in the student section of the ACS Policy Manual. 

Types of Bullying

• Verbal: Saying or writing mean things.
• Social: Sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone's reputation or relationships.
• Physical: Hurting a person's body or possessions.
• Cyber: Bullying which takes place over digital devices.

Prevention

Alabama public schools are required by law to implement bullying prevention education and practices to address bullying and cyberbullying. ACS policies on harassment can be found here in Board policies 6.10.1 - 6.11.5. 

Bullying prevention lessons are taught by school counselors during classroom guidance lessons. These lessons include topics of communication skills, problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills, emotion management strategies, as well as lessons that teach students how to identify and respond to bullying. The Jamari Terrell Williams Act specifically addresses cyberbullying and extends the school's involvement to cyberbullying that occurs off-campus and outside of school hours. Lessons on internet safety and digital citizenship are taught via classroom guidance lessons and embedded into the academic curriculum. To meet the staff training requirements for bullying and cyberbullying, ACS staff complete training modules via Cognia.

• Stopbullying.gov is a one-stop website with a wealth of information, resources and support for students and parents about bullying and cyberbullying. 
• This How to Prevent Cyberbullying Guide for Parents and Youth shares specific strategies for preventing, identifying and reporting cyberbullying.
• Check out these informational videos for parents and students from the Department of Health and Human Services and stopbullying.gov. 
• Check out these Bullying Prevention and Education Resources from the Committee for Children, the organization that publishes the Second Step curriculum used by our school counselors for classroom guidance lessons.
• This is a list of websites specifically for kids and teens to learn more about bullying and cyberbullying.
• The PACER Center has excellent resources for students and parents available in English and Spanish.