Bullying

New Jersey defines harassment, intimidation, and bullying as:

"...any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it be a single incident or a series of incidents, that is 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 disability, or by any other distinguishing characteristic, that takes place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, on a school bus, or off school, that substantially disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students and that:

(a) a reasonable person should know, under the circumstances, will have the effect of physically or emotionally harming a student or damaging the student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to his person or damage to his property;

(b) has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students; or

(c) creates a hostile educational environment for the student by interfering with a student’s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student."

With bullying, you see:

• An imbalance of power (ex. a young child and an older child)
• Focus on attributes of the victim (ex. the victim is singled out for things like race, ability, or other differences)

With conflicts you see:

• Both parties participating in the offenses
• No personal attributes (ex. race, ability, or other differences) being singled out as a motivating characteristic

The guidance counselor, Ms. Kayla Haloupek, is John F. Kennedy's Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying specialist. Any suspected bullying may be reported to her at khaloupek@btwpschools.org or 856-767-9480 ext. 1314. Reports of suspected bullying will result in a formal investigation.