The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) offers a variety of bullying prevention resources for families, schools and communities. These resources include a model anti-bullying policy and related presentation materials, a webinar series and links to helpful websites. Districts can take advantage of these tools for help in meeting their legal requirement to establish a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying.

Model Anti-Harassment, Anti-Intimidation and Anti-Bullying Policy

This State Board of Education-approved model policy contains procedures for reporting, documenting and investigating incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying (including cyber bullying) as explained in the model policy and Ohio Revised Code. The document delineates responsibilities for school personnel and presents student intervention strategies. The policy also states the requirements for districts to:

• Consult with students, parents, school employees, volunteers and community members in developing policies and programs;
• Publish policies in student handbooks and employee training materials;
• Locally report on a semiannual basis a summary of reported incidents;
• Provide training on local policies to the extent that state or federal funds are appropriated for these purposes.

• Ohio Revised Code (ORC), Sections 3313.666 and 3313.667

RELATED RESOURCES

• Bullying Prevention Resources – a variety of bullying-prevention resources including Web links, fact sheets, lectures, webinars, PowerPoints, and training programs.
• Safety and Violence Prevention Training – a child-abuse detection curriculum for training school administrators, nurses, teachers, counselors, school psychologists and administrators.
• Teen Dating Violence Prevention Education - House Bill 19 – guidance and resources for dating violence prevention.