Harassment and Bullying

Definition - Harassment is defined in Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Harassment Act 1997. Bullying includes both overt and covert behaviours that cause harm. 

Harassment/bullying usually has four common features:

1. It is deliberate

2. It is repeated over a period of time

3. It is difficult for those being harassed/bullied to defend themselves

4. It is difficult for those who harass/bully to learn new social behaviours

There are three main types of harassment/bullying:

1. Physical: hitting, kicking, and taking belongings

2. Verbal: name-calling, insulting and racist remarks      

3. Indirect: spreading nasty stories, excluding from groups

GUIDELINES

1. All members of the school community have responsibility to recognise harassment/bullying and to take action when they see it happening

2. All staff should treat any report of harassment/bullying seriously and take action

3. Staff should listen to the student/s in the first instance, and make inquiries, as necessary, to clarify exactly what has happened. Every incident is to be treated individually

4. The student/s should be assured that they have acted correctly in reporting the harassment/bullying

5. The staff member should make a written summary of the information and pass it on to the Principal within 24 hours

6. The emphasis should be on changing the behaviour of the harassing/bullying student/s while providing support for the student who has been harassed/bullied

7. The staff member should attempt to give advice on how to deal with any repeat incidents that may happen before the intimidation can be dealt with

8. The person responsible for the harassment/bullying should: 

   • Be addressed and informed that the behaviour is unacceptable and must stop

   • Give an assurance that the behaviour will stop

   • Apologise to the complainant

9. Follow-up with the person responsible for the harassment/bullying, should be discussed with the student. It is important that the staff member follows up after one week and again within one month with both the student and the person to whom the information was passed.

10. An effort should be made to contact the parents of all involved students by the Principal within 3 days of the incident being reported