Bullying is a pattern of aggressive and harmful behavior, typically repeated over time, that is intended to intimidate, hurt, or dominate another person who is perceived as vulnerable or less powerful. Bullying can occur in various settings, including schools, workplaces, online, and in social settings. Modesto City Schools is committed providing a positive school environment for all. Bullying is not tolerated within Modesto City Schools.

Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance of real or perceived power between individuals with the intent to cause harm. Students who are the targets of bullying behavior and those who exhibit bullying behavior toward others may suffer serious, lasting consequences. In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must include:

• A Deliberate Act: To cause emotional or physical harm to another individual.

• An Imbalance of Power: Those who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and vary in different situations, even if they involve the same people.

• Repetition: Bullying behaviors that display more than one time or have the potential to happen more than once.

Bullying can occur in many forms , including:

1. Verbal Bullying: This involves using hurtful words, insults, teasing, name-calling, or derogatory language to belittle or humiliate the target.

2. Physical Bullying: Physical bullying involves using physical force or actions to harm the victim, such as hitting, punching, pushing, or other forms of physical aggression.

3. Social Bullying (Relational Bullying): This type of bullying is more subtle and involves manipulating relationships, spreading rumors, excluding someone from a group, or damaging a person's reputation or social standing.

4. Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying occurs online or through digital devices and includes actions such as sending threatening or offensive messages, spreading rumors or embarrassing information online, or engaging in any form of online harassment. Students who are cyberbullied are often bullied in person as well.

Additionally, students who are cyberbullied have a more difficult time escaping the negative behavior.

• Cyberbullying can occur 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and reach a student when he or she is alone and/or when in their own home.

• Cyberbullying messages and images can be posted anonymously and distributed quickly to a very wide audience. It can be difficult and sometimes impossible to trace the source.

• Deleting inappropriate or harassing messages, texts, and pictures are extremely difficult after they have been posted or sent.

Social Media Bullying can take many forms, such as sending mean messages to people or threats to a person's life, aggressive or rude texts, tweets, posts, or messages. It can also be stealing a person's account information to publicize private information by spreading it on social media websites.

Modesto City Schools follows the "If You See Something, Say Something" Campaign. If you think a child is being bullied:

1. Report the bullying to any school employee.

2. Complaints of bullying will be investigated and resolved in accordance with the District's uniform complaint procedures specified in AR 1312.3.

3. When a student is reported to be engaging in bullying off-campus, Modesto City Schools will investigate the allegation/s and identify specific facts or circumstances that explain the impact or potential impact on school activity, school attendance, or the targeted student's educational performance.

4. When the circumstances involve cyberbullying, individuals are encouraged to save and print any electronic or digital messages that they feel constitutes cyber-bullying and to report it to a teacher, school administrator so that the matter can be investigated.

The Modesto City Schools District strives to provide students with optimal conditions for learning by maintaining a school environment where everyone is treated with respect and no one is physically or emotionally harmed.  

In order to ensure respect and prevent harm, it is a violation of the Conduct Code for a student to be harassed, intimidated, or bullied by others in the school community, on the way to or from school, at school sponsored events, or when such actions create a substantial disruption to the educational process. The school community includes all students, school employees, school board members, contractors, unpaid volunteers, families, patrons, and other visitors. 

Student(s) shall not be harassed on the basis of actual or perceived ancestry, age, color, disability, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, parental, pregnancy, family or marital status, or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. 

Any staff who observes, overhears, or otherwise witnesses harassment, intimidation, or bullying or to whom such actions have been reported must take prompt and appropriate action to stop the harassment and to prevent its recurrence which depending on the frequency, intensity and/or severity may require an immediate report to the school site administration. 

• California Department of Education Bullying Prevention Training & Resources

• CDE Bullying Module

• 5131.2 BP - Bullying

• 5131.2 AR - Bullying