Battle Hill Elementary School

Ms. Erin Jackson - School Counselor

Email:  ejackson@twpunionschools.org

Phone:  908 - 851 - 6390

Definition of Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB)

HIB is a common educational conflict that affect students and their families annually. According to the New Jersey Department of Education (2011) HIB is defined as:

"any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it be a single incident or a series of incidents, that: (1) is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by an actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental, physical or sensory disability, or by any other distinguishing characteristic; (2) takes place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, or on a school bus; or off school grounds, as provided for in N.J.S.A. 18A:37-15.3; (3) substantially disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students; and ( 4) that a reasonable person should know, under the circumstances, will have the effect of physically or emotionally harming a student or damaging the student's property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to his person or damage to his property; or has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students; or creates a hostile educational environment for the student by interfering with a student's education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student" (p. 9).

• For more information about HIB from the New Jersey Department of Education, click here

Types of Bullying
HIB occurs in multiple forms. Though the continuum of bullying is expansive, the most common forms of HIB include the following: cyber, emotional, physical, psychological, and social (see, Table 1). Due to the forcefulness and crudeness of bullying, each form of bullying is equally harmful to the education and development of a student. The school and home have a responsibility to teach children about the types of bullying.

Table 1
Types of Bullying

Bullying Prevention
Bullying prevention are systematic routines educators employ to minimize or to mitigate the act of bullying on or off school grounds. School personnel, along with the family and the community, should collaborate to develop comprehensive procedures on how to report, manage, and spread awareness about HIB. New Jersey mandates each school to establish practices such as programming, training, and reporting to boost awareness and response.

Learn to be an Upstander
An upstander is an individual who stops bullying when it happens unlike a bystander, who may watch or participate in the act of bullying. When HIB takes place, it is essential that students understand their role and responsibility. A student who observes bullying, should defuse the situation by stating "Bullying is not allowed at our school!" Then, immediately notify a trusted adult like a teacher or a parent. A synonymous catchphrase for such instances is "when you see something, say something!" Once informed, the adult, especially in the case of a teacher, must report the incident verbally and through writing to the Anti-Bullying Specialist (ABS) and/or the school principal right away. From this point, a formal investigation can begin.

At-Home Interventions
At-Home interventions are strategies that the family can teach or model to their child. Some strategies include the demonstration of prosocial communication, the use of diplomatic language, positive verbal and non-verbal skills, and/or conflict resolution attributes. Other strategies include regular talks with your child about their day or social-emotional discussions to understand your child's concerns and feelings. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) developed an application for mobile devices to assist families to starting conversations about HIB called KnowBullying. The application is free of charge and is a practical tool to connect families with the child. For more information click here.

• For more information on HIB click here.

Referral Services
Referral Services offers support to students based on the submission of a student referral form to initiate services. At Battle Hill Elementary School, referral services consist of Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS), Section 504, and Counseling. Each approach offers distinguished modes of support to respond to the needs of the child.These approaches provide strategies known as interventions to help the student to navigate towards achievement. According to the New Jersey Department of Education (2002) suggested that an intervention is "a proactive process that interrupts, alters or prevents the progression of a condition" (p. 131). The priority of referral services is to work with stakeholders to develop and implement interventions that enhance student education and development.

I&RS
I&RS is an educational service that involves the engagement of stakeholders to develop academic and/or behavior interventions to support a child. There are several intervention types that are aligned to I&RS: academic, behavior, attendance, and medical. An I&RS Team is comprised of educational professionals who research and discuss research-based interventions specifically to improve student performance.

I&RS initiates with a referral from a teach to report the student's needs. This process is known as the Request for Assistance, a form that identifies the area of concerns, the reason for assistance, and current classroom strategies. After the Request for Assistance has been submitted, the remainder of the 6 Phases of I&RS can begin (see Table 2).

Table 2
6 Phases of I&RS

I&RS works best with ongoing school-family collaboration and communication to support the child. Such interactions take place by meetings, communications, and school involvement. Referrals for I&RS are typically made by the school professionals.

• For more information on I&RS click here.

Section 504
Section 504 was structured to ensure students with disabilities or with medical needs received equitable education. Interventions types cater to academics, behavior, attendance, and medical. To formulate interventions, a 504 Team which essentially configurates of a school principal, school nurse, teacher, school pyschologist, and the school counselor, who facilitates the meetings, collaborate to analyze the student's individualized needs and develop a plan based on these needs.

Similiar to other referral services, the effectiveness of Section 504 stems from ongoing school-family collaboration, and if necessary, the involvement of the community, to extend resources and to enact shared-decision making. Cooperative relationships amongst stakeholders are paramount considering that interventions are interconnected responsibilities between the school and home. Thus, the act of shared-responsibility requires consistent communication and interaction between these institutions to propel the child to achievement.

Student referrals for Section 504 can be made by the school, home, or a professional member of the community, for example, a physician or a psychologist) in writing. For more information on 504, see the School Nurse's page.

Counseling
Counseling is another method used to support students. While three types of counseling sessions are implemented: individual counseling, small-group counseling, and classroom lessons (see Table 1), a referral form is available for individual counseling.

Table 3
Counseling Types

References

New Jersey Department of Education. (2002). Resource Manual for Intervention and Referral Services. Retrieved from https://www.nj.gov/education/students/irs/manual.pdf