What is Polk County’s definitions of bullying and harassment?
Answer 1: The Polk County Schools definition of bullying closely follows the terms of the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, and defines bullying as: • “Bullying” means systematically and chronologically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students or employees. It is further defined as: unwanted purposeful written, verbal, nonverbal, or physical behavior, including but not limited to any threatening, insulting or dehumanizing gesture, by and adult or student, that has the potential to create an intimidating, hostile or offensive educational environment or cause long term damage; cause discomfort or humiliation; or unreasonably interfere with the individual’s school performance or participation, is carried out repeatedly and is often characterized by an imbalance of power. Bullying may involve, but is not limited to: • unwanted teasing • threatening • intimidating • stalking • cyberstalking • cyberbullying • physical violence • theft • sexual,
