Schools Target "Cyberbullies"

Students who tease or humiliate their classmates on the Internet could face discipline under a revised bullying policy introduced by the Cheshire Board of Education.

The proposed policy widens the definition of bullying to include "cyberbullying" and would require schools to deal with off-campus bullying -- including comments made online -- if it "creates a hostile environment at" or "substantially disrupts" school.

The changes bring the district in line with Connecticut's new anti-bullying law, which took effect in July. The school board gave first reading to the policy Thursday night.

"There are quite a number of changes to the policy," said Superintendent of Schools Greg Florio. He said principals at each school would be reviewing the changes with parents, students and staff members.

Florio said Connecticut and several other states beefed up their anti-bullying laws following the suicides of teens in Massachusetts and New Jersey who had been bullied over the internet.

In Connecticut, one out of every four high school students -- and 35 percent of state ninth-graders -- report having been bullied in the previous school year, according to a survey by the Connecticut Commission on Children.

The law requires all school employees to verbally report acts of student bullying within one day of the incident and to notify parents of the children involved within 48 hours.  They must submit written reports to school officials within three days.

The district also must provide annual training on how to prevent and respond to bullying and adopt a "safe school climate plan" by Jan. 1.

By next July, the district must appoint a "safe school climate coordinator" and "safe school climate committee" to oversee bullying prevention measures and investigate complaints.

"The idea is if you create that positive environment, then you will decrease the number of bullying issues that you will have to deal with," Florio told the board.

The full policy can be viewed here.