KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: Bias-related School Harassment and Violence

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KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Bias-related School
Harassment and Violence

• By Angela Chan
• Staff Attorney, Juvenile Justice and Education
  Project

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What is bias-related harassment?

• Hateful or biased behavior is motivated in part
  or in whole by hostility toward a persons real
  or perceived race, nationality, religion,
  disability, gender,or sexual orientation.
• Hate or bias-related bullying causes emotional
  suffering, physical injury, or property damage
  through intimidation, unequal treatment,
  exclusion, harassment, bigoted slurs or epithets,
  force or threat of force, or vandalism.

1. CA Education Code sections 200, 220, 233, and
48900.3 describe policies and intent specific to
hate-motivated violence. CA Penal Code sections
422.6, 422.7, 422.75, 422.8, 422.9, 422.95, and
628 define what constitutes hate-motivated
crimes.
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Why are we concerned about bias-related school
harassment?

• Equal access to education is more than about the
  quality of academic instruction that is offered
  in the classroom.
• Equal access to education also requires an
  environment that supports learning.
• It is difficult, if not impossible, for students
  to reach their full potential if they fear for
  their safety.
• The long-term effects of bullying, cruelty, bias,
  and hate-motivated behavior impact student
  successboth for the victims and for the
  perpetrators.

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Its Against the Law To Harass and Discriminate!

• Federal Law
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
  color, and national origin (including language
  discrimination) in programs and activities
  receiving federal financial assistance.
• Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972
  prohibits discrimination based on sex in any
  education program or activity receiving financial
  assistance.
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title
  II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  prohibits discrimination on the basis of
  disability in any programs and activities
  receiving federal financial assistance

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California Law

• Ca Ed Code Sec 200 et seq prohibits
  discrimination in public schools based on sex,
  ethnic group identification, race, national
  origin, religion, mental or physical disability.
• CA Ed Code Sec 32280 et seq requires each
  school to develop and implement a School Safety
  Plan ltwww.cde.ca.gov/spbranch/safety/gt as a part
  of its overall local education plan and to
  revisit the plan annually and amend it as needed.
  
• AB 394 (Levine) CA Department of Education
  monitors school districts for their compliance
  with nondiscrimination requirements (adopting
  policy, publicizing, maintaining records of
  complaints). DOE will post resources to address
  bias-related discrimination and harassment,
  including information on best practices, on its
  website.

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California Law Continued . .

• CA PENAL CODE SEC 422.6 et seq. (Hate Crime Law)
  
• prohibits hate crimes on the basis of "race,
  color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
  disability, gender, or sexual orientation,"
  including the perception of any of these
  characteristics.
• RALPH AND BANE CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS (Cal. Civ. Code
  51.7 and 52) provides that all persons within
  the jurisdiction of this state have the right to
  be free from any violence, or intimidation by
  threat of violence, committed against their
  persons or property because of their race, color,
  religion, ancestry, national origin, political
  affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, age,
  disability or position in a labor dispute.
• UNRUH ACT (Cal. Civ. Code 51) provides for the
  right to be free from discrimination in public
  accommodations regardless of sex, race, color,
  religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual
  orientation or source of income.
• School districts ARE business establishments for
  purposes of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Sullivan
  v. Vallejo City Unified Scho. Dist., 731 F.Supp.
  947, 952 (E.D. Cal. 1990).

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Local Law County and City

• Many cities and counties also have local
  provisions outlawing bias-related harassment and
  violence in public facilities.
• Can lose funding if institution discriminates or
  allows discrimination.

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How do the laws work?There are 2 theories for a
discrimination complaint

• (1) Different Treatment by Agents or Employees
• 4 Factors
• Did an agent or employee of a recipient treat
  someone differently in a way that interfered with
  or limited the ability of a student to
  participate in or benefit from a program or
  activity of the recipient?
• Did the different treatment occur in the course
  of authorized or assigned duties or
  responsibilities of the agent or employee?
• Was the different treatment based on race, color,
  or national origin?
• Did the context or circumstances of the incident
  provide a legitimate, nondiscriminatory,
  nonpretextual basis for the different treatment?

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How do the laws work?There are 2 theories for a
discrimination complaint

• (2) Hostile Environment 3 Factors
• A racially hostile environment existed
• The recipient had actual or constructive notice
  of the racially hostile environment
• Constructive notice is established if the alleged
  harasser is an agent or employee of a recipient
  acting within the scope of his or her official
  duties.
• In the education context, constructive notice is
  established if the school district does not have
  a policy that prohibits the conduct of racial
  harassment, or does not have an accessible
  procedure by which victims of harassment can make
  their complaints known to the appropriate
  officials.
• The recipient failed to respond adequately to
  redress the racially hostile environment.

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What do to If you have been a victim of any
kind of harassment, or violence REPORT IT!

• STEP 1 File a written complaint with your
  school.
• The complaint should include what, when, how, and
  who.
• Give the written complaint to your principal.
• Keep a record of when you told the principal and
  what actions he or she took.

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What do to If you have been a victim of any
kind of harassment, or violence REPORT IT!

• STEP 2
• If your school failed to respond in a
  satisfactory manner, file a complaint with the
  compliance officer in your school district.
• If you are being harassed based on your race,
  sexuality, gender, religion, etc., file a written
  Uniform Complaint with your School District
  (http//www.cde.ca.gov/re/cp/uc/)
• If you are unsatisfied with a decision made by
  your School District, file an appeal within 15
  days to the California Department of Education.
• Alternatively, you can choose to first file a
  discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department
  of Education, you have to do so within 180 days
  of incident. You can file a complaint on-line at
  http//www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/.
• REMEMBER You must file your complaint within 6
  months of the incident if its bias-related!!!

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What do to If you have been a victim of any
kind of harassment, or violence REPORT IT!

• STEP 3
• File a lawsuit in federal or state court alleging
  violations of civil rights laws. You may need to
  first try administrative remedies (see above).

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Example of a Case Monterey School District

• In 2007, a 13-year-old Muslim American student
  was repeatedly ordered by a school official to
  remove her hijab. The student filed an
  administrative complaint with the District
  alleging religious and national origin
  discrimination because students were not allowed
  to wear headscarves for religious reasons.
• The case settled As a result of the settlement,
  the district issued a public apology, amended
  district-wide dresscode policy, held a community
  educational forum, and expanded cultural
  competency training given to staff. 

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Who can be a bully?

• Students certainly can be bullies. Where?
• Bus, classroom, internet, en route to/from
  school, playground.
• Adults also may also be bullies. How?
• In schools some teachers, office staff, bus
  drivers, school security personnel, and even
  parent volunteers use tactics ranging from
  sarcasm to severe bullying as a means of
  disciplining students or maintaining power.
• Like the student bully, the adult perpetrator
  often disregards the hurtfulness of his/her
  actions or blames the target for overreacting or
  not being able to take it.
• Adults also overlook bullying when they condone
  mistreatment by students who harass or haze
  younger students or who use derogatory language
  or label groups of students. Allowing students to
  engage in casual cruelty, sexual harassment,
  hateful or bias-based behavior gives the
  perception that bullying is an acceptable,
  sanctioned tradition.

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How big of a problem is bullying?

• Nationally
• 50 of all hate crimes are committed by young men
  under twenty years of age.1
• 10 of all hate crimes occur in schools and
  colleges.
• California
• According to the California Health Kids Survey,
  between 27-30 of middle and high school students
  have experienced harassment due to their race,
  religion, gender, sexual orientation, or
  disability.2

1. Ten Ways to Fight Hate A Community Response
   Guide to Hate Crime and Hate Groups. Southern
   Poverty Law Center, October 1998
   lthttp//www.tolerance.org/10_ways/index.htmlgt.
2. California Health Kids Survey, supported by
   California Department of Education
   http//www.wested.org/cs/chks/print/docs/chks_home
   .html.

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How big a problem is bullying?

• 2002 California Health Kids Survey 37 of
  middle and high school students reported some
  harassment, and about three-quarters of these
  experiences were bias-related.

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CONSEQUENCES OF VICTIMIZATION

• Violence and delinquency
• Lowered academic performance
• Truancy
• Drug use
• Risky sexual behavior
• Depression
• Suicide
• Withdrawal from family and friends (Isolation)

1 Asian/Pacific Islander Communities An Agenda
for Positive Action, National Council on Crime
and Delinquency, 2001. 2 Thao N. Le,
Non-Familial Victimization Among Asian Pacific
Islander Youth The Oakland Experience. Journal
of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, Vol. 3(3) 2005.
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Challenges to Improving School Safety

• Language and cultural barriers between school and
  parents, school and students, and students
• Tension and misunderstanding among students and
  between students and staff due to culture, race,
  gender, or class
• Lack of culturally-specific, gender-responsive
  tailored programs
• Teachers and administrators relying on
  suspension, expulsion, and police reporting as
  the first and only responses to violence and
  harassment.
• Lack of awareness and training on school policies
  against harassment and violence.
• Any more?

Thao N. Le, Non-Familial Victimization Among
Asian Pacific Islander Youth The Oakland
Experience.
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Big Picture Approach to Improving Safety in
Schools

• The most effective model is a comprehensive
  program using a combination of interventions
• Schoolwide,
• Classroom level,
• Individual level (students, parents, staff).
• To create a social environment characterized by
• Positive adult involvement
• Firm limits for unacceptable behavior for student
  and teachers
• Consistent use of sanctions/programs for rule
  violations and
• Develop alternatives to zero-tolerance practices
  that address cause of the conflict.

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Schoolwide Prevention/Intervention

• Adopt an anti-harassment policy.
• Implement anonymous complaint system.
• E.g., Safe School Line in SFUSD
• Publicize policy to parents and students
• E.g., By including in handbook, posting around
  campus, and making available on website.
• Train staff and students on the policy and how to
  report a violation of the policy.
• E.g, in SFUSD, teachers must report any
  harassment and bullying within 24 hours to
  principal.
• Maintain record of complaints received and the
  steps taken by the school/district to investigate
  and resolve the complaint.
• Follow up by continuing to track the offenders
  progress and behavior and encourage him/her to
  become more involved in positive school
  activities.

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SFUSD Safe School Line

• Improve safety in your
• school community. Call this
• number to report incidents
• or concerns affecting the
• safety of any student.
• Three ways to report
• (1) [phone]
• (2) www.sfusd.edu
• (3) e-mail to safeschool_at_sfusd.edu

All callers will remain anonymous unless you
choose to give us your information. Examples of
what you can report threats/intimidation
racial/gender slurs harassment/bullying
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Schoolwide Prevention/Intervention Cont . .

• Conduct a survey of both staff and students to
  determine the prevalence of bullying (see also CA
  Health Kids Survey)
• Establish a school-level committee consisting of
  teachers, administrators, counselors, other
  school staff, school-based mental health
  professionals, parents/guardians, and students to
  perform the following tasks
• Evaluate the survey results.
• Develop a coordinated system for supervising
  students during break periods, which is when
  bullying occurs most frequently at school.
• Develop specific plans for implementing a program
  in which different sources convey a consistent
  message about the schools views and attitude
  toward bullying.
• The committee would also be charged with program
  oversight and ongoing coordination of the
  schools efforts to stop bullying behavior at
  school.

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Classroom Prevention/Intervention

• Embed in class curriculum (e.g, history class) a
  critical understanding of race, ethnicity,
  gender, sexuality, etc.
• See e.g., Anti-defamation League and Facing
  History and Ourselves websites
• Teach classroom conflict resolution curricula
  (K-12) including skill-building activities for
  effective communication and peaceful problem
  solving.
• Involve students in establishing classroom rules
  against bullying.
• Develop a classroom action plan so that students
  know what to do when they witness a bullying
  incident.

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Classroom Prevention/Intervention

• Teach cooperation by assigning projects that
  require cooperation and teamwork.
• Take immediate action when bullying is observed
  or reported.
• Confront bullies in private. Engaging the bully
  in front of peers may enhance the bullys status
  and power or lead to further aggression.
• Notify parents of both the bully and the target
  and try to resolve the problems as soon as
  possible, including referrals to counseling and
  mediation/peer court when appropriate.
• Provide protection for students who may be
  targeted by bullies. One measure might include
  creating a buddy system to reduce the risk of
  attack or ridicule of the targeted student.

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Mediation Strategies Restorative Justice

• CREATE SAFE PLACE TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS
• This Is the Key!
• Peer Mediation Programs Student conflict
  mediators receive training to learn how to help
  other students peacefully resolve their
  differences. Students who need mediation services
  either voluntarily seek services or are referred
  by teachers or administrators.
• Peer Courts and Community Courts This is an
  alternative to the juvenile justice system.
  Student volunteers hold hearings about actual
  incidents that occur in their school or
  neighborhood.
• Volunteers work with the victim, the offender,
  school officials, law enforcement officers and
  family members to reach a solution that everyone
  can agree to.
• If the Respondent completes the contract, then
  the case is closed without an arrest or
  suspension.
• The focus is on putting things right, not on
  punishment.

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Student Prevention/Intervention

• Avoid engaging in bullying.
• Report bullying incidents you witness at school
  to an adult.
• Encourage others to report bullying incidents and
  help them report if they cannot do it alone.
• Support someone who has been hurt by offering
  kind words in private (not in public to avoid
  escalating).
• Show your disappointment in the behavior by not
  joining in while someone publicly humiliates,
  teases, or harasses another and do not
  participate in the gossip or rumors being spread.

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Parent Prevention/Intervention

• Look for signs of victimization (see earlier list
  of signs).
• Check in with your child as to how they are
  feeling and doing in school
• Immediately report the problem in writing to the
  school and ask them to address a bullying problem
  (6 month statute of limitations if bias-related).
• Include suggestions in your complaint about how
  to resolve the problem counseling for bullying,
  training for staff, separating the students,
  mediation.
• If the school district does not promptly respond
  to your complaint, go to the District and submit
  a written complaint to the compliance officer
  who receives Uniform Complaints.
• Keep accurate records of incidents and be
  specific about the childs experiences when
  discussing resolution of the problem with school
  personnel.
• Keep record of all complaints filed.

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Review Two-Prong Strategy for Success
Intervention and Prevention

• INTERVENTION
• Implement and publicize complaint system.
• Train staff on anti-harassment policy and
  complaint system.
• De-escalate conflict when it happens.
• Develop alternatives to suspension, expulsion,
  and criminalization that promote rehabilitation
  and community.
• Provide support services for victim and victims
  family.

• PREVENTION
• Understand root causes of violence and conflict.
• Develop a Whole Community Prevention Plan, that
  includes administrators, teachers, students,
  family, and community.
• Establish a shared vision and goal.
• Integrated curriculum with trained staff.
• Develop benchmarks for success.

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Summary

• The Problem Cycle of victimization and
  criminalization
• Two-Prong Strategy Intervention and Prevention.
• Discuss Next Steps Implementation.

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• Questions? Comments? Contact
• Angela Chan
• Staff Attorney
• Tel [phone]
• angelac_at_asianlawcaucus.org