The new school year means new students entering your school.

For the benefit of both new and returning students and parents, it’s critical to roll-out your school’s bullying reporting policy to your students and parents at the start of every school year as well as remind students throughout the year of the various bullying reporting options you’ve made available to them.

9 Steps for Rolling Out Your School’s Bullying Reporting Policy

  1. Hold a school-wide assembly introducing the reporting policy to students.
  2. If an online reporting form is being used, make sure the button to the reporting form on your school website is obvious and not hidden in a menu.
  3. Introduce the reporting policy to parents during parent council meetings.
  4. Inform all parents via your school newsletter of the reporting policy.
  5. Have teachers inform students regularly (at least once every couple months) of the reporting options available to them.
  6. Mention it during your school’s morning and afternoon PA announcements.
  7. Get students involved in promoting the reporting of bullying. Have students create their own posters or wallet cards.
  8. Don’t leave the onus of reporting bullying solely up to the victims. Train students on being an active bystander / upstander that stands up for victimized students by not engaging in the harassment and immediately reporting it to school officials.
  9. Display posters prominently around the school in high traffic locations (cafeteria, hallway, bathrooms, etc) and in classrooms.

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