Bullying Prevention & Intervention
The Walpole Public Schools is committed to providing all students with a safe and supportive learning environment. We are committed to providing professional development that educates our staff to foster a positive social-emotional learning environment in the classroom. WPS implements bullying prevention curricula, multi-tiered levels of support, and age-appropriate strategies to address bullying across all grade levels. We are committed to ensuring an atmosphere of social, emotional, and academic growth for all students. With the support of families and the greater community, we can work together to promote a safe learning environment for all of our students.
Identifying an act as "unkind" or "bullying" may, at times, seem unclear. Decisions are based on interpretation of events following an investigation, perception of intent by the target and intent/motive of the individual causing harm. It is important to understand what is bullying and what is not based on the definitions below.
Bullying is:
- Deliberate or intentional behavior using words or actions, intended to cause fear, intimidation, or harm.
- Intentional, aggressive, and hostile behavior.
- An act that involves an imbalance of power between the bully and the target.
- Behavior that is repeated over time rather than an isolated incident.
- Physical (assault, hitting, kicking, punching, other acts that physically hurt another person).
- Verbal (threatening statements, teasing, name-calling, or put-downs).
- Indirect (spreading rumors, falsely accusing another person, intimidation through gestures, social exclusion, cyber-bullying).
At times, unkind acts and bullying can appear to be similar. We want any instances of acts that may be perceived as bullying to be reported for vetting by school administrators.
Successful enforcement of our anti-bullying policy and bullying prevention plan requires a collaborative effort among staff, students, and parents.
