Nurses Middle College - Capital Region believes that all students have a right to a safe and healthy school environment. Our schools and communities have an obligation to promote mutual respect, tolerance, and acceptance.

Nurses Middle College - Capital Region will not tolerate behavior that infringes on the safety of any student. A student shall not intimidate, harass, or bully another student through words or actions.

Definition of Bullying

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. 

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

• An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
• Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Types of Bullying

Verbal Bullying

• Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. 
• Verbal bullying includes:
• Teasing
• Name-calling
• Inappropriate sexual comments
• Taunting
• Threatening to cause harm

Social Bullying

• Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships.
• Social bullying includes:
• Leaving someone out on purpose
• Telling other children not to be friends with someone
• Spreading rumors about someone
• Embarrassing someone in public
• Cyberbullying

Physical Bullying

• Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. 
• Physical bullying includes:
• Hitting/kicking/pinching
• Spitting
• Tripping/pushing
• Taking or breaking someone’s things
• Making mean or rude hand gestures

Sexual Harassment

• Sexual Harassment, can include relational and physical bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or physical violation.
• Sexual harassment includes:
• Derogatory comments
• Name calling
• Talking about others sexual and/or gender identification
• Physical touching
• Cyberbullying

Reports of Bullying 

Nurses Middle College - Capital Region requires students and/or staff to immediately report incidents of bullying to the Head of School/Principal. Staff who witness such acts take immediate steps to intervene when safe to do so and complete the Nurses Middle College - Capital Region Incident Report Form.

Each complaint of bullying shall be promptly investigated. This policy applies to students on school grounds, while traveling to and from school or a school-sponsored activity, during the lunch period, whether on or off campus, and during a school-sponsored activity.

To ensure that bullying does not occur on school campuses, Nurses Middle College - Capital Region will provide staff development training in bullying prevention and cultivate acceptance and understanding in all students and staff to build each school's capacity to maintain a safe and healthy learning environment. 

Teachers should discuss this policy with their students in age-appropriate ways and should assure them that they need not endure any form of bullying. Students who bully are in violation of this policy and are subject to disciplinary action up to and including expulsion. 

The procedures for intervening in bullying behavior include, but are not limited, to the following:

• All staff, students and their parents will receive a summary of this policy prohibiting intimidation and bullying: at the beginning of the school year, as part of the student handbook and/or information packet, as part of new student orientation, and as part of the school system's notification to parents.
• The school will make reasonable efforts to keep a report of bullying and the results of investigation confidential. 
• Staff who witness acts of bullying shall take immediate steps to intervene when safe to do so. People witnessing or experiencing bullying are strongly encouraged to report the incident; such reporting will not reflect on the target or witnesses in any way.