The administration, faculty, and staff of USD #258 is dedicated and committed to providing students with a safe, caring, and supportive school environment. Our administration has worked to develop a district wide system to help address the serious issues related to school bullying.

Our newly developed district-wide reporting system will be another important tool to help stop bullying in our school district. This system will allow students, parents, and any community member to report bullying through accessing a form on our website and then turning it into the building principal of the school othe victim attends. It will also give bystanders (students witnessing bullying but unsure what to do about it) and targets (victims of bullying) the chance to stop bullying.

This system was designed by the USD #258 Administration team in an effort to help bystanders with a safe tool for reporting bullying. Thank you for helping us provide a comfortable and safe environment for all students in USD #258 Humboldt Schools.

Definition of Bullying: A person is being bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more persons. (Olweus, 1986, 1993)

Characteristics of Bullying

1. The behavior is aggressive or malicious.

2. It is repeated and goes on over time.

3. It occurs in an interpersonal relationship which is characterized by a certain imbalance in strength or power.

Types of Bullying

1. Physical - Hitting, kicking or any other physical aggression.

2. Verbal - Teasing, name-calling, put-downs, or other behavior that would deliberately hurt others' feelings or make them feel bad.

3. Emotional or Exclusion - Starting rumors, telling others not to be friends with someone, or other actions that would cause someone to be without friends.

4. Cyber-bullying - Using electronic device mediums such as, but not limited to computers, cell phones, and pagers to bully (bullying defined above) others through methods such as posting comments, statements, or pictures on blogs or websites, text messaging, instant messaging, and email.