The passage of the new Bullying Law in Massachusetts requires every school system to develop a local policy to prevent, intervene and respond to any acts of Bullying or Cyber-Bullying that occur among their students.
The basic guidelines of this new piece of legislation are described as follows:
Definition and Prohibition of Bullying
Bullying is defined as the repeated use of a written, verbal, or electronic communication, or a physical act or gesture, or any combination thereof, by one or more students directed at another student that has the effect of:
- Causing physical or emotional harm to the other student or damage to his or her property
- Placing the other student in reasonable fear of harm to him or herself or of damage to his or her property
- Infringing on the rights of the other student at school
- Materially and substantially disrupting the education process or the orderly operation of a school
Cyber-Bullying is bullying through the use of technology or any electronic means, and includes the distribution of electronic communications or the posting of electronic material that may be accessed by one or more persons.
This bill prohibits bullying:
- At school and at all school facilities;
- At school-sponsored or school-related, non-school technology or electronic devices
if the bullying affects the school environment.
The bill applies to all school districts, commonwealth charter schools, collaborative and approved private day and residential schools.
An official policy has been established for the South Middlesex Regional Vocational Technical School District.
To the view the policy in English, please click HERE
To the view the policy in Spanish, please click HERE
To the view the policy in Portuguese, please click HERE
Reporting
Choose either of the following methods to reporting bullying:
- Download and print the INCIDENT REPORT
complete and send to Mr. Collins - Assistant Principal/Discipline, Mr. Evans - Principal, or the Main Office switchboard. - Send an anonymous email to report@jpkeefehs.org