A first look at the number of Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) cases in schools may not appear severe. However, the numbers may not entirely reflect the gravity of bullying in schools.
Bullying is an urgent and critical issue that needs to be addressed before another child gets hurt, or killed. News10 states that The Dignity for all Students Act was enacted in 2012 to help create a safe and bully-free environment in schools. The law requires the schools to report cases of bullying every year.
The @MidwivesRCM #ROARing against BULLYING in maternity services https://t.co/IO6uWHgbxJ thx @JacqueGRCM @smithgillianbl
— RoarBehindSilence (@SheenaBSooD) April 5, 2016
Cases of Bullying in School
According to Shelby News, the United State Department of Education states that 22 percent of students aging 12-18, both male and female, are bullied at school in 2012 and 2013. Of this, 18 percent said that they either bully or have been bullied, two to three times or more in a month.
In the data collected, boys are more prone to suffer physical abuse while girls are prone to verbal abuse. Girls are likely victims of cyber bullying and gossip. They often feel excluded. Both genders have the same rate of threats and damages to properties received.
It was found that there are high incidents of bullying in grade six, with a rate of 28 percent. While the least recorded number of bullying comes from the 12th grade, with just 14 percent.
According to the National Education Association, around 160,000 students opt to miss school out of fear of being abused. The National Voices for Equality and Enlightenment says that a child is being bullied every seven minutes. In the past year, there are around one million children being bullied in Facebook.
DASA Cases
Given the data presented by Shelby News, it is quite surprising to know that there are only a handful of DASA cases reported by schools. News10 investigated on this further. The news site found out that there are several districts, which have not reported any DASA cases in the past years.
These schools reported no cases of bullying in any form. Queensbury, Gloversville High School, South Glens Falls High School, Corinth and Tamarac Middle and High School all reported zero cases.
Queensbury superintendent Dr. Douglas Huntley said that cases may meet VADIR (Violent and Disruptive Incidents), but not DASA. Huntley noted that there are higher standards for an incident to be considered as DASA. The full DASA report can be checked in this link.
Action Plans
The State Education Department, together with the Center for School Safety, have rolled out DASA related trainings to detect bullying early on. They are also developing seminars that discuss cyber bullying.
Bullying is not something that we can consider as a rite of passage that every kid should experience. It has emotional and psychological effects that could be severe.
We don't need another kid to die to realize that bullying is a serious issue. Check out this video to know how you can cope with bullying:
