Bathgate Elementary School

School Policies

Bullying

Bathgate Elementary School Anti-Bullying Policy

The Bathgate Elementary School Community is committed to making our school a safe and caring environment for all students. We will treat each other with respect and refuse to tolerate bullying of any kind.

Definition: Bullying means systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students or employees. It is further defined as unwanted purposeful written, verbal, nonverbal, or physical behavior, including but not limited to any threatening, insulting or dehumanizing gestures, by an adult or student, that has the potential to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment or cause long term damage, cause discomfort or humiliation; or reasonably interfere with the individual’s school performance or participation. This behavior is carried out repeatedly and is often characterized by an imbalance of power.

Basically, we can determine if a behavior is bullying by using this acronym, is it…?

P-Pervasive (frequent)

I – Intentional (on purpose)

E -- Escalating (increasing)

Bullying behaviors include the following:

Hurting someone physically by hitting, kicking, tripping, or pushing
Stealing or damaging another person’s things
Ganging up on someone
Teasing someone in a hurtful way
Using put-downs, such as insulting someone’s race or making fun of someone for being a boy or a girl
Touching or showing private body parts
Spreading rumors or untruths about someone
Leaving someone out on purpose, or trying to get other kids not to play with someone

Students at Bathgate Elementary School will do the following things to prevent bullying:

Treat each other respectfully
Refuse to bully others
Refuse to let others be bullied
Refuse to watch, laugh, or join in when someone is being bullied
Try to include everyone in play, especially those who are often left out
Report bullying to an adult.

Teachers and staff at Bathgate Elementary School will do the following things to prevent bullying and help children feel safe at school:

Closely supervise students in all areas of the school and playground.
Watch for signs of bullying and stop it when it happens.
Respond quickly and sensitively to bullying reports.
Look into all reported bullying incidents.

Consequences for Violation of the Anti-Bullying Policy

Depending on the severity and nature of the incident, Bathgate Elementary School will take one or more of the following steps when bullying occurs:

Intervention, Warning, and Redirection

A teacher, principal, or staff member will ensure that the immediate behavior stops and reinforce to the student that bullying will not be tolerated. During this meeting with the student, the staff member will redirect the student and come up with a plan for success, in case they find themselves in a similar situation in the future.

Notification of Parents

School staff will notify the parents of involved students. The parents might be asked to meet with the principal or other members of the school staff, including the student’s teacher and/or the school psychologist.

Resolution with the Target of the Bullying

The student may be required to write a letter of apology to the student who was bullied. Depending upon the nature of the incident, the students involved may meet to help resolve the problem and ensure it does not happen again.

Consequences

The student may serve one or more days of recess, or lose school privileges.

Suspension

In cases of severe or repeated bullying, the student may be suspended under school board policies.