Defining Bullying

This seems obvious, but when you're trying to have a conversation about an issue, it's important to be talking about the same thing. As Andrea pointed out in her presentation, there are 46 states with anti-bullying laws on their books and every one of them has a different definition of bullying. Connecticut's anti-bullying law has been amended 6 times in the 10 years it has been on the books, and every time the definition of bullying has been changed.

Connecticut's evolving statutory definition of bullying is still much narrower than the definition most parents and students would use. Since the law carries with it legal requirements for recording, reporting, and responding to incidences of bullying, it is understandable that lawmakers sought to carefully and narrowly define the behaviors that would trigger the required responses. But this has caused some misunderstanding and miscommunication within schools.

I would venture to guess that CT's anti-bullying law struck fear in the hearts of some school administrators when it was first enacted and you can understand their perspective. Kids misbehave. Kids can be mean. What might the state's reporting requirements mean for the reputation of their schools or for individual children? No self-respecting principal wants his/her school to be known for the number of bullying incidents that occurred there;  nor does any child-loving principal or teacher want to put the label of bully on a 8 year-old. In many cases, this fear has led school administrators to narrowly interpret an already narrow definition of bullying. While parents and students may talk about bullying in terms of a wide range of behaviors and incidents that upset and concern them, school administrators are carefully measuring complaints against a statutory yardstick that regulates their response. See where the communication begins to break down?
 
The lack of a common definition of bullying has gotten in the way of fruitful conversation about the social and emotional environments in our schools. If we want to do a better job addressing this issue, we need to first get on the same page. That's part of why you'll see the language shifting from bullying prevention to school climate improvement. Shifting the scope of the conversation to school climate may allow us to settle on a narrow, but common, definition of bullying, while still talking broadly about the behaviors and values that characterize school environments which promote learning, growing, and a feeling of safety and belonging.

Next up...CT's School Climate Improvement Law.