ERIC Number: ED613981
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jul
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Youth Bullying Prevention in the District of Columbia: School Year 2019-20 Report
Temkin, Deborah; Fulks, Emily
Child Trends
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the ways schools and other youth-serving agencies are operating. To prevent the continued spread of the virus, many schools and agencies have moved to virtual only or hybrid virtual/in-person activities. Along with adapting many other activities, schools and agencies' approaches to bullying prevention have necessarily changed as well. Under the Youth Bullying Prevention Act of 2012 (YBPA; DC Law L19-167), youth-serving agencies are obligated to receive and respond to reports of bullying that take place using the agency's technology (e.g., laptops, tablets, video conferencing subscriptions) and which materially affect students' abilities to benefit from the agency's services. Thus, despite the pandemic, agencies are still required to follow the YBPA even if that means adapting their efforts to a virtual environment. The YBPA and its implementing regulations require all youth-serving agencies to maintain comprehensive anti-bullying policies; receive, investigate, and record reports of bullying; and, annually train all staff on the policy. The YBPA further requires the Office of Human Rights (OHR), which hosts the Citywide Bullying Prevention Program, to annually collect data from schools on their implementation of the Act and to provide technical assistance to support the Act's implementation. On a biennial basis, the YBPA requires OHR to submit to Council a report summarizing the state of bullying in the District of Columbia. This report serves to fulfill this requirement for 2019-2020 school year. Like its previous iterations, this report provides a detailed summary of each educational institution's implementation of the YBPA. In accordance with the YBPA's requirements, the report is divided into two sections: section 1 covers the programs, activities, and policies established as a result of the YBPA; section 2 covers the state of bullying in the District of Columbia. [This report was co-published by the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor. For the 2017-2018 report, see ED613980.]
Descriptors: Bullying, Prevention, Legislation, Board of Education Policy, Peer Relationship, Incidence, Discipline, Suspension, Middle School Students, High School Students, Health Behavior, At Risk Persons, Program Implementation, Computer Mediated Communication, Student Characteristics, Educational Environment, Program Effectiveness, At Risk Students, Surveys, Trauma, Intervention, Compliance (Legal), Data Collection, Web Sites, Expulsion, Law Enforcement, Counseling, Justice, Conflict Resolution, Student Attitudes, School Safety, Gender Differences, Racial Differences, Ethnicity, Students with Disabilities, LGBTQ People, COVID-19, Pandemics, School Closing, Youth Programs
Child Trends. 7315 Wisconsin Avenue Suite 1200W, Bethesda, MD 20814. Tel: 240-223-9200; Fax: 240-200-1238; Web site: http://www.childtrends.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Child Trends; District of Columbia Office of Human Rights (OHR)
Identifiers - Location: District of Columbia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A