October 2019
Rethinking Bullying Prevention
From the Director of the Center for Safe Schools
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the quarterly newsletter for the NSBA Center for Safe Schools, a benefit of your subscription. Each issue will feature one of our focus areas: infrastructure, crisis and emergency management, whole child health, or cyber security. This issue’s focus is whole child health, and we’re examining the subject of bullying.
October is Bullying Prevention Month. Despite the enormous body of research on bullying among children, we often lack a common understanding of what it means. The Oxford Dictionary defines bullying as seeking to harm, intimidate, or coerce someone perceived as vulnerable. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines it as unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-age children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.
Bullying is often confused with conflict. The less clear we are on the differences between these terms the harder it becomes to target our efforts. It’s essential that we understand why students are more likely to engage in bullying behavior or to be bullied, so we can better use our resources to have the most impact.
We hope the articles and resources in this issue help you deepen your understanding of bullying and its prevention. Please reach out with any questions or comments using the online discussion group to engage other subscribers from around the country or via center4safeschools@nsba.org. Also, visit NSBA’s Center for Safe Schools for new and unique resources and discussions. Future issues of this newsletter will be published in January, April, and July.
Thank you for your continued interest and commitment to helping foster safe schools for all our students and district employees.
Adam Lustig
Director, NSBA Center for Safe Schools