Bullying plan, resources online

Date: 12/13/2010

Dec. 13, 2010

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

LONGMEADOW -- The Longmeadow School Department its Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan to its Web site at http://sites.longmeadow.k12.ma.us/www/bullying-prevention-and-intervention.

Included on the site are the completed, final version of the plan and the official form to be submitted in the event of an incidence of bullying.

Also on the site are numerous resources from the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center for parents regarding bullying and cyber-bullying, including:

• a guide to identifying when their child may be the victim of bullying;

• a guide to cyber-bullying, including explanations of exactly what the term means;

• a guide to social networking Web sites, which includes answers to questions parents may have about these sites, as well as tips for talking to children about the dangers of those sites;

• a step-by-step guide on how to control privacy settings on Facebook; and

• tips for parents concerned about texting.

The Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan was presented to the town on Dec. 7 for approval before being sent to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for final approval.

All school districts in the state are required to submit plans by Dec. 31 by the new state bullying mandate passed on May 3 by Gov. Deval Patrick's administration.