Bullying & Harassment Information
The West Bend-Mallard Community School District recognizes the impact bullying and harassment can have on a student and works to create a safe and welcoming environment. This page is meant to educate students and the community about the information WBM uses to limit bullying and the steps students can take if they experience mistreatment.
Bullying and Harassment reporting form: HERE
Bullying and Harassment witness form: HERE
What Is Bullying?
No one should have to tolerate being bullied and bullying is not a normal phase that kids must go through. Bullying can cause serious and lasting harm. Most people agree bullying meets the following characteristics:
- An Imbalance of Power---People who bully use their power to control or harm others. The people being bullied may have a hard time defending themselves.
- Intentional behavior---A bully is trying to cause harm. Something done by accident is not bullying.
- Unwanted behavior — The behaviors from the bully are not wanted by the target(s) or victim(s)
- Repetition---Incidents of bullying happen to the same person over and over by the same person or group of people. A person can also be seen as a bully if they repeat behaviors across time or to different people. This is viewed as “repetition” because it is a repeated behavior pattern.
In Iowa, the law defines harassment and bullying as: "Any electronic, written, verbal, or physical act or conduct toward a student [by another student, staff member, or volunteer] which is based on any actual or perceived trait or characteristic of the student and which creates an objectively hostile school environment that meets one or more of the following conditions:
- Places the student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's person or property.
- Has a substantially detrimental effect on the student's physical or mental health.
- Has the effect of substantially interfering with a student's academic performance.
- Has the effect of substantially interfering with the student's ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
Types of Bullying
There are 4 main identified types of bullying:
- Verbal---Name calling, taunting, whispering, etc.
- Social---Spreading rumors, excluding people on purpose, breaking up friendships, trying to limit a person’s social connections, etc.
- Physical---Hitting, shoving, punching, etc.
- Cyberbullying---Using technology (i.e. Facebook, Zoom, Google Docs, etc.), text messaging, or other technologies to harm others.
What to do if you're being Bullied
- Stay calm and tell the person to stop. Get away from the person bullying.
- Tell a teacher, counselor, principal, or staff member. If a student retaliates because you told someone, the consequences to the student are likely to increase.
- You can report the incident you have experienced by using the forms above. You may also report an incident of bullying that has happened to someone else by filling out the witness form listed above.
- Save any evidence of the bullying such as text messages, emails, etc. Evidence can also include camera footage from the cameras in and around school. Keep track of where incidents are happening and when as additional evidence that administration can use in their investigation.
- Remember you are not alone, there are a lot of people who want to help you. Turn to students, staff, and family you trust to help you complete the reporting process and follow up on situations after a report.
What to do if you see someone being Bullied
Bystanders can have the greatest impact on bullying in our school. Teachers are not everywhere. The response or lack of response can send a strong message to the bully.
- If you see someone bullying another student, tell them to knock it off or stop it if you feel it's safe to do so.
- Find a friend to stand up to the bully with you. There is power in numbers and more people showing a bully that the behavior is not accepted helps to shift power in support of the target/victim.
- Tell a teacher, counselor, principal, or another staff member. Get help from someone.
- You can also report an incident of bullying that you see by using the form listed above.
Bystanders can have the greatest impact on bullying in our school. Teachers are not everywhere. The response or lack of response can send a strong message to the bully.
- If you see someone bullying another student, tell them to knock it off or stop it if you feel it's safe to do so.
- Find a friend to stand up to the bully with you. There is power in numbers and more people showing a bully that the behavior is not accepted helps to shift power in support of the target/victim.
- Tell a teacher, counselor, principal, or another staff member. Get help from someone.
- You can also report an incident of bullying that you see by using the form listed above.
The Bullying Investigation Process
Once a report of bullying is made by either a target/victim or a witness, information will be passed to the School Counselor, who is the Level I Investigator. The School Counselor will review any information already completed and ask follow up questions as needed. If the situation is a conflict (being 2 sided), there is the option for conflict resolution. However, if there is a belief that the behaviors are bullying or harassment, information will be passed from the School Counselor to the principal/administrator for the grades involved. The level principal/administrator will gather additional information as needed and identify the next steps depending on the situation. They will determine and assign consequences based on information, interviews, and any evidence given.
Contact:
Maria Sulentic
300 3rd Ave SW
West Bend, IA 50597
msulentic@west-bend.k12.ia.us