Bullying+and+Harassment

 **Bullying and Harassment **

The Craven County Board of Education takes seriously all complaints of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and bullying. Individuals who have witnessed or have reliable information that another person has been subject to unlawful discrimination, harassment, or bullying should report such violations to a school system official. If it is not feasible to report such actions, anyone can submit an anonymous report by completing the survey which is linked below.

__**Definition of Discrimination**__ - any act or failure to act that unreasonably and unfavorably differentiates treatment of others based solely on their membership in a socially distinct group or category, such as race, ethnicity, sex, pregnancy, religion, age, or disability. Discrimination may be intentional or unintentional.

__**Definition of Harassment and** **Bullying-**__ Harassment or bullying behavior is a **__PATTERN __** of gestures or written, electronic or verbal communications, or any physical act or any threatening communication that: 1. places a student or school employee in actual and reasonable fear of harm to his or her person or damage to his or her property 2. creates or is certain to create a hostile environment by substantially interfering with or impairing a student's educational performance, opportunities or benefits.
 * OR**

__**Characteristics of Harassment and Bullying**__ 1. The behavior is **aggressive** or malicious. 2. It is **__REPEATED__** and goes on over time. 3. It occurs in an interpersonal relationship which is characterized by a certain **imbalance** in strength or power. __**Types of Bullying**__ 1. **Physical** **–** Hitting, kicking or any other physical aggression. 2. **Verbal-** Teasing, name-calling, put-downs, or other behavior that would deliberately hurt others’ feelings or make them feel bad. 3. **Emotional or Exclusion**– Starting rumors, telling others not to be friends with someone, or other actions that would cause someone to be without friends. 4. **Cyberbullying**- Using electronic device mediums such as, but not limited to computers, cell phones, and pagers to bully (bullying defined above) others through methods such as posting comments, statements, or pictures on blogs or websites, text messaging, instant messaging, and email.

Bullying/Harassment Reporting
 * __To report bullying/harassment at Early College EAST, please click the link below.__ **