Chicago Public Schools Rolls Out Cyberbullying Policy

NBC Chicago (7/30, Wojciechowski) reports that Chicago Public Schools has rolled out a strict new policy on cyberbullying. The policy imposes "serious new sanctions for offenses that previously were outside the bounds of school discipline." Punishments include "mandatory suspensions, possible expulsions, and police investigations." NBC Chicago notes that "the new Student Code of Conduct treats cyberbullying offenses with the same severity as burglary, aggravated assault and other crimes."

Anti-Bullying Program Yields Positive Results For Massachusetts District

The Boston Globe (7/29, Travaglini) reported that Danvers school administrators plan to expand an anti-bullying program they say saw positive results "at the elementary schools last year." The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program was implemented at the elementary level in 2008. The program includes training for all school employees "on how to recognize bullying and ways to deal with it. ... Regular school-wide assemblies, classroom discussions on bullying and parent meetings on the topic were introduced as the final phase of the program." Its "success is measured in part by" a decline in the "number of reports of possible bullying incidents the school" received last year.