Bullying Intervention & Prevention

Millard strives to create a safe and healthy learning environments for every student. We take a comprehensive approach including district policy, data collection and ongoing education and training, and partnering with parents and community organizations. Click here to read the district policy regarding bullying.

Millard staff promote student learning in the areas of social-emotional development by providing students with safe and age appropriate opportunities to resolve conflicts, develop strong decision making skills and enhance empathy. The district recognizes that some conflicts are part of the normal developmental process that children experience and that staff must ensure the safety of children while offering genuine opportunities to build resilience and strong social skills. 

The district maintains a commitment to safety. It is a violation of district policy for a student to bully, harass, or intimidate another student and exhibit behaviors that infringe upon the safety or emotional well-being of any student; including acts of bullying, intimidation or harassment through words and actions.

School personnel who witness any act of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying shall take immediate action to intervene. Every member of the school community is responsible for promoting a positive school culture and ensuring the physical and emotional health of students. Further, there is an expectation that all students, staff, parents, and volunteers demonstrate behavior that is respectful and civil in order to model and support safe school communities. 

If you have any questions, please contact the counselor at your student's school. 
 

Definition of Bullying

Bullying means any ongoing intentionally hostile or offensive verbal, written, graphic, demonstrative, electronic, or physical act used by a student or student(s) against another student or student(s) that has the purpose of exerting domination over another student through the act of intimidating, frightening, oppressing, retaliating, or adversely controlling the student, and that is disruptive of the educational process or any ongoing pattern of physical, verbal, written, graphic, demonstrative or electronic abuse, on District property, in a vehicle owned, leased, or contracted by a school being used for a school purpose by a school employee or his or her designee, or at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event, or any other place where the governing law permits the District to discipline students for prohibited conduct. This may include, but is not limited to, verbal, graphic, written or electronic activities such as name-calling, taunting, blackmailing, inciting to fight, terrorizing, threatening, or physical or demonstrative activities such as poking, blocking or impeding, following, hair pulling, mock hitting motions, intentionally bumping, tripping, and damaging clothing.

Indicators of Discriminating, Intimidating, Harassing, and Bullying Behaviors

The District recognizes that often conflicts can be learning opportunities for students to develop resilience and problem solving skills that will help them to successfully navigate through life. Therefore, school staffs assess conflicts between children through a lens of safety, child development, age, school level, legal parameters and other factors to determine when problematic behaviors become bullying. Behaviors which constitute bullying may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Verbal: Hurtful name-calling, teasing, gossiping, making threats, making slurs or epithets, making rude noises, or spreading hurtful rumors.
  • Nonverbal: Posturing, making gang signs, leering, staring, stalking, destroying property, insulting or threatening notes, using graffiti or graphic images, or exhibiting inappropriate and/or threatening gestures or actions.
  • Physical: Hitting, punching, pushing, shoving, poking, kicking, tripping, blocking egress, strangling, hair pulling, fighting, beating, pinching, slapping, "pantsing", biting, spitting, or destroying property.
  • Emotional/Psychological: Rejecting, terrorizing, extorting, defaming, intimidating, humiliating, blackmailing, manipulating friendships, isolating, shunning, ostracizing, using peer pressure, or rating or ranking personal characteristics.
  • Cyber-bullying: Sending insulting or threatening messages by phone, e-mail, or any other electronic or written communication. This policy pertains to cyber-bullying that is related to school activity or attendance and is directed toward a pupil or school personnel
     
Reporting Bullying

Any student who believes that they are being bullied, has witnessed an act of bullying, or has knowledge of any incidents involving acts of bullying are strongly encouraged to report the incidents to a school official. 

Upon receiving a written or oral notification of bullying, the site administrator will investigate the matter to determine how to best resolve the issue promptly and appropriately. Issues such as the age of the children, developmental stage, and safety concerns shall be taken into consideration in addressing and resolving complaints of bullying. While not all reports may meet the legal definition of bullying, any incident of inappropriate behavior is dealt with promptly and deliberately. Incidents of bullying may be documented 

For anonymous reports of bullying, please call the MPS Safe School Hotline at 1-888-809-4754. 

A student who believes that they are being harassed or discriminated against at school or at school activities should immediately bring the matter to the attention of the building administrator or school staff.

Support for Students

The District strives to ensure that every student experiences a safe and welcoming school environment, free from bullying. 

When students do experience or witness bullying, schools may offer a variety of supports, such as counseling, check-ins, social skills groups, and other programs or services. This is to ensure that students feel safe at school and understand what to do whenever confronted with bullying. Interventions may be offered to the target, aggressor, or bystander. 

Please contact your site for specific school supports and programs available.

Bullying Prevention Activities

Millard Public Schools promotes safe school environments for all students by engaging in a wide range of comprehensive programs and activities to encourage a positive school culture and resilience in children. These activities focus on promoting safe and welcoming schools, intervention strategies to address student misbehaviors and education for students, parents and staff. Highlighted below is a select list of district initiatives that promote safe and more welcoming schools.

  • Active engagement in Social Emotional Learning Curriculum to develop resiliency and connectedness for all students
  • Promotion of safe and welcoming school cultures
  • Training teachers and staff in recognizing, intervening, reporting and investigating bullying incidents
  • Enforcing Bullying Prevention and related Board Policies
  • Collecting data to inform, guide and monitor programs and services
     
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