New anti-bullying law not the final answer

The law, which went into effect this year, requires districts to create a policy for confidentially reporting and investigating acts of bullying.

If students feel harassed or intimidated by another student, they can file an anonymous complaint against that person, who could be disciplined, pending an investigation.

Some say the new anti-bullying policies do not guarantee improvement.

"If forms would fix problems, we'd be living in a pretty amazing world," said Vail Superintendent Calvin Baker.

Baker said he would rather see parents and staff members come together to resolve situations.

On the other side of town, the Amphitheater Public Schools have taken the law a step further and defined what constitutes bullying, intimidation and harassment.

Caught in the middle are students, with their own ideas on bullying and effective legislation.

Applying the law

The new district policies stem from a state law passed this year, though some districts have only recently started educating their students on the new policy.

The anti-bullying law was created with the help of students in a Teen Court class at Tucson Unified School District's Mansfeld Middle School, in Midtown.

Many districts had measures against bullying before, but the new law aims for consistency. Each district has the responsibility to interpret the law and then set its own policy.

In a statement by spokeswoman Amy Rezzonico, the Arizona Department of Education said it was common not to require districts to submit their policy and procedures regarding laws like this for review.

Much of the wording used in many local district policies came from an interpretation of the law handed down by the Arizona School Boards Association. The association helps and advises districts in policy recommendations, saving districts research time.

Districts are free to use the language recommendations given by the association in their advisories. But the group does not hand down policy.

But what may have been meant to create consistency among school districts in anti-bullying policy has created inconsistency in how the law is applied.

'Looks like a bully wrote it'

Vail School District adopted the anti-bullying policy written by the Arizona School Boards Association.

Elizabeth Webb thinks that policy does not meet the spirit of the law.

"It looks like a bully wrote it," she said.

Webb, a 37-year-old Vail parent, said the policy places the burden of reporting on the victim of the bullying, who is less likely to file a report.

She recently helped get the district to add a portion into its policy that requires school district employees who suspect or believe a student has been involved in an act of bullying to report it.

And she's not done.

Webb is pushing to get another part added that will allow students who witness acts of bullying to file a confidential complaint form under the same policy.

"Most people being bullied are not going to come forward," she said.

Webb's contention is that the policy is not specific enough for parents in defining things such as what is and isn't bullying and harassment.

"The more vague you make a rule or policy, the easier it is to defend in the future," she said.

Donn Williams, director of policy services for the Arizona School Boards Association and the holder of a doctorate in education, disagrees.

"Sometimes it is better to let the Legislature determine what the term means," he said.

Williams said since the anti-bullying law didn't define specific terms such as bullying, his organization didn't either, citing the "plain meaning" of the words in the dictionary.

Baker said no matter how many rules the state hands down, a victim wants an open ear more than a piece of paper in order to vent.

"They want to be heard, not fill out a form," he said.

The forms are available if a student wants to use them, Baker said, but the district would rather encourage victimized students to talk to any adult they feel comfortable with — such as a teacher, counselor or playground monitor —about the situation.

Webb said if parents want to contact her for bullying support or advocacy, they can call 762-0000.

Amphi gets specific

Amphitheater Public Schools wrote its own policy, which is much more specific than the Arizona School Boards Association's wording that other districts are using.

The Amphitheater bullying policy includes definitions for "bully," "bullying," "intimidation" and "harassment," and also includes a list of examples of behavior that would be considered bullying.

"What we saw the Legislature trying to do was bring a name to this thing that had been going on for generations. Bring a name to it and get it addressed," said Todd Jaeger, the school district's attorney.

"We've always prohibited the behavior when bullying consists of threatening, harassing, intimidating people," he said. "But what the law does, and what the policy does, is it puts a name to all this stuff. People feel bullied, they don't necessarily feel assaulted or threatened."

Jaeger said the district's policies against intimidation and harassment have always been specific, and the addition of the bullying policy's specificity only ensures people know what is and is not allowed at school and school functions.

"It's to help people, parents, recognize what the policy is intended to address and by reverse implication, what it might not be intended to address," Jaeger said. "It sort of coalesces things into, first of all, something that they understand, and the policy and our forms facilitate reporting. Sometimes kids might not know how to bring this up."

One of the district's mission statements is to maintain a safe and caring environment, Jaeger said. "We want our actions to reflect our values."

DEFINITIONS

● Students can file a complaint in the Vail, Tanque Verde Unified, Marana Unified, and Flowing Wells school districts if they are bullied, harassed or intimidated —though what constitutes any of those activities is not defined in those districts' new policies.

In Amphitheater Public Schools' policy, it defines the terms as follows:

● Bullying: "Is a deliberate or knowing act committed by a student, whether individually or in concert with other persons, against another student or group of students, which is unwelcome and unprovoked, that is repeated over time to exert power by one or more persons over others. Bullying contributes to a substantial risk of potential injury, mental harm, degradation or societal ostracization or causes physical injury, mental harm or personal degradation."

● Intimidation: "Verbal or physical threats toward another person made with the intent to inflict fear, injury or damage to property."

● Harassment: "The continual or repeated annoyance or humiliation of another person. Harassment towards an individual or group that is based on race, ethnicity, national origin, color, gender, religion, physical or behavioral characteristics, sexual orientation/preference and/or disability is also discrimination."