Harassment, intimidation, and bullying — now referred to as HIB — spiked in February and March in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, and dropped off dramatically in April and May, according to a report by district director of guidance Lee McDonald.
McDonald presented the report on trends and cases of HIB to the school board Tuesday, June 26, at the end of the first year in which Governor Christie’s anti-bullying laws were in effect.
McDonald attributed the late-year decline in HIB to the heavy testing period students face in the spring with NJASK and other standardized tests, which he says “limited the opportunities for student contact.”
Among students in grades kindergarten through five, boys were much more likely than girls to be involved as both offenders and victims. In cases that were investigated, 22 of 27 offenders were male. Among victims, 10 of 13 were males, and McDonald said that a lot of boy-on-boy bullying was going on. But overall, in the lower grades, only four cases were confirmed to be incidents of HIB.
McDonald pointed to data showing HIB incidents by location. For lower grades, the cafeteria, bus, and playground were the three most likely places for incidents to occur. McDonald says this is likely because each of those environments are the least structured.
McDonald said “without a doubt, WW-P’s middle schools were the hot spot” for HIB cases. There were 28 total HIB investigations at the middle school level (grades 6 through 8), and 17 were confirmed to be incidents of HIB.
One in four HIB cases at the middle school level occur on the school bus. Ten of 44 students that were identified as HIB offenders were special education students.
“As many of us know, middle school is a difficult time, where students are starting to get autonomy and their own voice, and at the same time the students don’t always have maturity and that certain filter, so that is always an area of concern for us,” he said.
Thirty of 44 HIB offenders in middle school cases were male. But McDonald says it’s important to note that “we were starting to see more females involved” in HIB cases; 18 middle school victims investigated were male and 13 were female. Thirty HIB offenders at the middle school level were male, 14 were female.
In high schools, between January and June of this year, nine of ten victims in HIB cases were female, and nine of ten victims were Caucasian. Four of the ten cases involved a special education student being the victim. McDonald said that the number of cases may be lower at the high school level because “students are well aware of the law and what it entails.”
McDonald says patterns observed in WW-P in 2011-’12, such as males being offenders, HIB occurring during unstructured activities, and the continuation of HIB through text messaging, Facebook, and online forums all “mirror the national trends going on.”
In all grades, 50 cases were investigated. Forty-two percent were found not to be incidents of HIB, falling into two categories: HIB non actionable, meaning that a student engaged in behavior that may be considered inappropriate, rude, disrespectful, or unkind, but the behavior does not violate school HIB guidelines; or non-HIB, where a student did not engage in any behavior meeting the definition of HIB, and they are cleared of any actionable offense.
McDonald said WW-P’s newest anti-bullying effort includes monitoring the K to 12 guidance curriculum with an increased focus on character development, communications skills, and friendship.
Through the promotion of a “responsive classroom,” McDonald said that students have an opportunity to speak to their peers about their feelings.
Before McDonald began presenting HIB statistics for the school district, he said that throughout the year WW-P was able to get clarification on the definition of HIB cases, not only through the state but also by their own experiences.
Incidents determined to fall under one of the categories of HIB can be reasonably perceived as being “motivated, either by any 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 (handicap) disability or by any other distinguishing characteristic.”
An HIB incident can take place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, on a school bus, or off school grounds. The incident must be determined to “substantially disrupt or interfere with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students.”
