Kulsoom Basharat

4/15/2015
Memo #4

Bullying behavior ripples through many individuals, systems, and infrastructures. This
behavior is far reaching beyond the physical and emotional trauma; bullying behavior can be
linked to a wide variety of negative outcomes in society. It contributes to the weakening of
families, schools, communities, and neighborhoods and has broad financial and economic
consequences. (Schools, 2015) Public school systems in the United States are designed to
provide free education to students in a protected and structured environment. School systems
must comply with and enforce regulations that protect all individuals within school grounds and
most importantly- provide a positive environment for students to learn in a stable and secure
setting.
There is a wide spectrum of stakeholder groups that are impacted by bullying behavior
within schools. The range goes from the victim all the way to citizen within the community. It is
important to not neglect any stakeholders that could potentially be impacted by a policy
decision. I will start off with the most obvious stakeholder, the group of individuals who are
most impacted both in the short and long term, the victim. These individuals reap the most
damage out of all the other stakeholders. Bullying policies have the potential to significantly
impact this group by how such behavior is identified, prevented, and addressed thereby
effective policies can lessen the damage to these individuals. The next key stakeholder group
are bullies. This group influences how policies are constructed and are evaluated to see how
effective policies are in minimizing bullying behavior.
Other stakeholder groups are comprised of school staff (consisting of health care
workers which is comprised of nurses, psychologists, counselors, and administrative staff which
includes front office and custodial staff), peers, parents and organizations (after school
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Kulsoom Basharat
4/15/2015
Memo #4

programs, school sports teams) are all connected to the school community and are affected by
bullying activity/behavior. All of these stakeholders must be involved in cooperative efforts in
order to prevent and diminish such behavior in schools. (M. Fekkes, 2005)
Each stakeholder group plays a role in some form in altering or enhancing any policy
that sets out to address bullying behavior in schools. I took into consideration all of the touch
points a student (potential victim) may encounter and how those touch points could help to
enforce a strong stance against bullying behavior.
Below is the complete list of important stakeholders on this issue, their relevancy to
bullying behavior in Fairfax County Public Schools, and the policy implications these groups
would want in an ideal policy. Also based upon how significantly impacted the given group of
stakeholders are, I have categorized the groups into direct and indirect stakeholders.
Stakeholder
VictimsDirect

BulliesDirect

Parents and
Siblings of
VictimDirect

Policy Relevancy (How are they

relevant to this issue?)
This group experiences the bullying
behavior, and they sustain short and
long term effects of this behavior.

Policy Implications (What do they

want a policy to address/include?)
This group wants a safe
environment and to be fully aware
on how to report bullying behavior
without negative repercussions and
to be equipped with tools and
techniques to deal with mental and
physical trauma.
These individuals cause the short and This group needs tools and
long term emotional and physical
techniques in addressing mental
trauma.
health issues in a positive and
healthy way.
Once the victim returns home, this
Safety for their child/brother/sister
group has to deal with the aftermath is a priority. They want a
of bullying behavior at home. This
happy/stress-free home and school
causes a great deal of stress and
life. This group also wants to be
tension within the family dynamic.
aware of ways to handle bullying
Parents need to be informed on a
behavior, ideally they want to be
schools anti-bullying policy, be
engaged and involved in the
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Kulsoom Basharat
4/15/2015
Memo #4

Parents and
Siblings of BullyDirect

Teachers-Direct

School
Counselors/
PsychologistsIndirect

Nurses- Indirect

FCPS
Vice/Principals/
Superintendent Indirect

involved when incidents occur, and

be included in the resolution of such
matters.
Root causes can stem from issues at
home for the bully. Child
abuse/neglect could potentially
contribute bullying behavior at
school. Family members can
contribute to a student becoming a
bully when there is some form of
abuse or turmoil at home.
This group spends the most time
with the students and have firsthand access to seeing, hearing and
being mindful of such behavior under
their supervision. At times students
confide in teachers in regards to the
happenings between students.
Teachers have the ability to prevent
such behavior in classrooms by have
a zero tolerance and swiftly
addressing such behavior.
This group plays a significant role in
identifying, addressing, and resolving
bullying behavior. In most cases they
are the first line of defense for the
victim and are in the position to deal
with the bullys emotional
behavior/outbursts.
This group helps to identify physical
scars that can be associated with
bullying behavior.
As an incident may escalate, this
group is involved in disciplinary
actions and follow through of rules
and regulations.

resolution process as well.

This group could benefit from a

policy that addresses or provides
some form of family
therapy/counseling or techniques to
deal with negative emotions.

Teachers number one priority is to

teach students in a safe and nonconfrontational environment. They
want to be equipped with
information, technology and
structure to identify, report, and
address bullying behavior. Teachers
could learn effective and sustainable
methods to handle and resolve
incidents and promote anti-bullying
policies within their classrooms.
This group would bolster a policy by
providing mental health advice that
coincides with an implemented
policy and would provide methods
to address conflict and manage
stress and tension.
A proper reporting structure to
communicate such findings would
be beneficial to this group.
This group works to improve their
prevention, intervention, and
disciplinary action techniques
through active participation with
policy decision makers they work to
implement and enforce policies
designed to address bullying
behavior. They are answerable to
the victim, victims family, and must
regard the safety of all individuals in
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Kulsoom Basharat
4/15/2015
Memo #4

the school system.

Virginia School
Board- Indirect

Peers/FriendsDirect

This group must keep standard

operating procedures current and
monitor and assess bullying activity
within the State.
This group can help to intervene and
report bullying behavior. They may
witness such bullying behavior
physically, or via use of technology.

Administrative
Staff (Front
Office, School
Security,
Custodians and
Lunch Room
Staff) - Indirect

This group can help identify and

report bullying behavior. They may
witness such incidences in hallways,
bathrooms, cafeterias or
playgrounds/sports fields.

FC Police
DepartmentIndirect

This group must be notified if

incidence are out of the control of
school administrators and parents or
victim wants to press charges against
a bully.

After School
Program
(including sports
staff)
Leaders/StaffIndirect

Similar to teachers, this group

spends a considerable amount of
time with students and has the
obligation to report any such activity
that could harm another student
both mentally and physically. They
must communicate and swiftly
address bullying behavior in the
same manner in which FCPS are held
liable to.
Significant number of bullying
incidences occur to and from school.
While it is difficult for bus drivers to

School Bus
Drivers- Indirect

This group needs a comprehensive

plan that can be implemented
throughout the State and can be a
measurable annually.
This group would benefit from a
robust policy that included their
support in reporting bullying
behavior. Individuals in this group
need a policy that includes
guidelines on how to report such
behavior without any negative
repercussions.
A thorough and manageable
reporting structure that makes it
easy to report incidences would
encourage this group to actively
partake in intervention and
prevention policies.

This group can partake in

implementing the policy and
educating all stakeholders on the
consequences of bullying behavior
and understanding the legal
implications.
Increased awareness and vigilance is
key. This group needs be involved in
the process of when an incident
occurs during school hours and after
hours. This group needs to be
involved in swiftly addressing and
reporting bullying behavior.

Leveraging simplified reporting

structures would encourage school
bus drivers to report incidences and
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Kulsoom Basharat
4/15/2015
Memo #4

Fairfax County
Public OfficialsIndirect
Fairfax County
Citizens- Indirect

Neighboring
CountiesIndirect

drive vehicles and discipline

students, they must also be held
liable for incidences that occur while
students are under their supervision.
Ignoring such matters is not an
option.
This could impact whether or not
people choose to live within the
county or choose to have their
children attend any FCPS school.

Bullies may get expelled from one

county and may have to attend
schools in another county and this
could create problems for
administrators of that school system.

be mindful of problematic students.

Citizens want a safe environment

and school systems that are
reputable and maintain low to none
violence on their grounds. If a
school is infamous for its negligent
attitude towards bullying behavior,
that could increase the violence and
crime in the area and therefore
decrease the value of the property.
Through a transparent system,
other counties could share solutions
and methodology on how to
improve this issue.

Based on the information above the stakeholders who are directly linked to the issue
are listed below and the impact categories are assessed based on what the stakeholders would
want out of the comprehensive policy 360 degree alternative selected previously. The 360
degree policy consists of training teachers/school staff on how to accurately recognize and
prevent of the onset of bullying behavior and provides classroom curriculum to students in
order to enhance their awareness and skills in identifying, addressing/reporting and resolving
bullying behavior. This 360 degree policy also requires the involvement of the entire school
system as well as involvement from parent/guardian.

Kulsoom Basharat
4/15/2015
Memo #4
Stakeholder

Safe
Environment
(In/Outside of
School)

Mediation/
Counseling

Bullying
Thriving/Prosperous
Prevention/Interventio Lives for Students
n
Awareness/Education

Victims

Bullies

Victims
Parents
/Siblings
Bullys
Parents/
Siblings
Teachers
Peers/
Friends

It is important to include the people who have the greatest interest in the outcome. As
policies are alternated and modified to address needs and change as bullying behavior is seen
through different means as technology and time progresses. Stakeholders have the power to
either eliminate or continue to feed bullying behavior stakeholders must understand the
impact they have on the issue.

Kulsoom Basharat
4/15/2015
Memo #4

Bibliography
Krause, C. (2011, June 27). Bullying. Retrieved from Fairfax Mental Health:
http://www.fairfaxmentalhealth.com/bullying
M. Fekkes, F. P.-V. (2005). Bullying: who does what, when and where? Involvement of children,
teachers, and parents in bullying behavior. Health Education Research Theory and Practice, 8191.
Peter Smith, K. A. (2003). Interventions to Reduce School Bullying. Can J Psychiatry, 591-599.
Rossell, C. H. (1993). Using Multiple Criteria to Evaluate Public Policies- The Case of School
Desegregation. American Politics Quarterly, 155-184.
Schools, F. C. (2015). fcps.org. Retrieved from Bullying Prevention and Intervention: www.fcps.org
Survey, F. C. (2014). Fairfax County Youth Survey Results. Fairfax: Fairfax County.
Virginia, B. o. (2013). Model Policy to Address Bullying in Virginia's Schools.