HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2012-37 Draft 1COUNTY COUNCIL COUNTY OF KAUAI I&cotutton RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING ADOPTION OF ANTI - BULLYING POLICIES AND REGULATIONS No. 2012 -37,Draft 1 WHEREAS, school bullying, harassment, and intimidation greatly reduce a student's ability to both achieve and surpass academic standards and can often cause a student to drop out or change schools; and WHEREAS, school bullying, harassment, and intimidation can directly affect a student's health and well -being and thus contribute to excess absences from school, physical sickness, mental and emotional anguish, and long -term social and mental illness; and WHEREAS, bullying, harassment, and intimidation can take physical,verbal, and written forms, including use of electronic media; and WHEREAS, gender non - conforming students are also more likely than others to be called names, made fun of or bullied at least sometimes at school, and suicide rates for gender non - conforming students is particularly high; and WHEREAS, it is long past the time for not only society, but also for each community, to acknowledge that bullying is not some sort of "rite of passage" to be simply ignored or tolerated; and WHEREAS, no student should feel threatened at school because of his or her race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation,gender identity or expression, or for any other reasons relating to personal identity or beliefs; and WHEREAS, incidents of reported school - related bullying in the state and throughout the nation are ample evidence of the need for intervention;1 WHEREAS, bullying can result in poor self - esteem, depression, anxiety about going to school and even suicidal thoughts; and WHEREAS, gender non - conforming students are less likely than other students to feel very safe at school, and are more likely than others, to indicate they sometimes do not want to go to school because they feel unsafe or afraid there; and
WHEREAS, it is within the goals and dictates of the State's public education system to provide a healthy, positive, and safe learning atmosphere for all children in the State school system; now, therefore,BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI,STATE OF HAWAII, that it hereby expresses its condemnation of bullying,harassment, and intimidation in schools.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council urges schools, community members, and concerned parents to work together to define and understand the multiple aspects of bullying and to create systems for reporting and effectively reducing school - related bullying incidents.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council urges the Hawai`i State Board of Education to respond to school - related bullying incidents by creating a school environment where students, teachers, staff, and administrators are encouraged and supported in expressing aloha and loving- kindness, and by implementing programs where victims of bullying are encouraged to speak up so they can be assisted, where perpetrators are educated, in order to create safer schools that provide a positive learning environment.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Hawai`i State Board of Education, the President of the State Senate, the Speaker of the State House of Representatives, the House Finance Committee Chairperson, and William Arakaki, Kaua`i School Superintendent, and the Principals of all Kauai Schools.V: \CS OFFICE FILES \RESOLUTIONS \2010 -2012 term \2012 -37d1 anti - bully.doc /gg INTRODUCED BY: /s/ KIPUKAI KUALII s/ MEL RAPOZO 6,4.0 Of erid, cerr, y . . Lit P, .an oz. . 201 2 -37, Tit 1,9tea April 26, 2012 2 dap Ma c gt.ma L,CJ I.a.ic a m ,wca G Gpcunuaa,9C c elaxa.$T 0 0 0 WHEREAS, it is within the goals and dictates of the State's public education system to provide a healthy, positive, and safe learning atmosphere for all children in the State school system; now, therefore,BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI,STATE OF HAWAII, that it hereby expresses its condemnation of bullying,harassment, and intimidation in schools.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council urges schools, community members, and concerned parents to work together to define and understand the multiple aspects of bullying and to create systems for reporting and effectively reducing school - related bullying incidents.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council urges the Hawai`i State Board of Education to respond to school - related bullying incidents by creating a school environment where students, teachers, staff, and administrators are encouraged and supported in expressing aloha and loving- kindness, and by implementing programs where victims of bullying are encouraged to speak up so they can be assisted, where perpetrators are educated, in order to create safer schools that provide a positive learning environment.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Hawai`i State Board of Education, the President of the State Senate, the Speaker of the State House of Representatives, the House Finance Committee Chairperson, and William Arakaki, Kaua`i School Superintendent, and the Principals of all Kauai Schools.V: \CS OFFICE FILES \RESOLUTIONS \2010 -2012 term \2012 -37d1 anti - bully.doc /gg INTRODUCED BY: /s/ KIPUKAI KUALII s/ MEL RAPOZO 6,4.0 Of erid, cerr, y . . Lit P, .an oz. . 201 2 -37, Tit 1,9tea April 26, 2012 2