The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has recently issued its “Bullying Prevention Policy Guidelines“, including the following recommendations:

An assessment needs to be conducted to determine the prevalence of bullying, where it is happening, who is involved, and when it is happening.

Programs must be implemented K–12 and must be comprehensive in nature, including policy, curriculum, and interventions. Administrators must provide strong leadership and commitment for antibullying programs to be successful.

Policy needs to be communicated regularly to students, parents, teachers, and others. Rules against bullying need to be enforced consistently.

The climate of the school must discourage bullying.

Parents need to be educated about bullying, and they need to be involved in prevention efforts.

Quality bullying prevention programming, strategies, and resources need to be developed or purchased.

Strategies for hot spots such as buses, cafeterias, lavatories, and other locations need to be developed. Environmental redesign may need to be considered. Technological monitoring may be effective.

Training needs to be provided for administrators, teachers, and all school staff, including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, playground supervisors, and others.

The district’s computer-use policy needs to include cyberbullying in the list of unacceptable uses of district equipment.

Resources need to be identified to assist bullies, victims, bystanders, and families.

Data must be maintained regarding the effectiveness of bullying prevention efforts.

The guidelines don’t have the force of policy, but are rather intended as “guidance offered for consideration” in the development of antibullying programs in schools.

Wisconsin CESA #2 (which includes the Madison Metropolitan School District) will be offering a Bullying Prevention Curriculum workshop for elementary (grades 3-5) and middle (grades 6-8) classroom instructional units on April 20, 2007.