By Dorothy Wigmore
Many forms of violence in New Jersey schools—and elsewhere—seem to be getting worse.
Reported bullying, bias and hate speech numbers are climbing in the state, especially affecting students from marginalized communities. New types of violence are being reported. Two recent Canadian studies warn that low-level anti-social classroom behavior, or incivility, increased since the pandemic started and found it can lead to bullying.
At violence workshops, teachers now talk about broken jaws and ask when to call the police, says Cecelia Leto, New Jersey Work Environment Council’s project director.
“They’re not getting the support they need,” Leto says.
Educators are worried about being blamed for “attacking” students when it’s the other way around and thinking about the need for witnesses and documenting incidents.
What’s violence?
The International Labor Organization, an agency of the U.N., defines violence and harassment as, “a range of unacceptable behaviors and practices, or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence or repeated, that aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment.”
The World Health Organization’s definition is broad, while the others focus on physical assaults or ignore gender. New Jersey’s laws and guidance don’t recognize power differentials, despite the state’s Anti-Bullying Task Force’s repeated recommendations that the concept be added to anti-bullying rules.
The state health and safety law does not mention of any type of violence, unlike its federal counterpart, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The latter’s website still defines violence broadly, recognizing it is a spectrum from verbal abuse to physical assaults and, sometimes, death.
State law does say “aggravated assault” includes someone physically attacking or threatening to physically attack teachers, school bus drivers and other school staff and board members.
What legal tools deal with school-related violence?
Without a specific law, state PEOSH enforcement staff must use the “general duty” clause requiring employers protect workers’ health and safety. Federal OSHA has guidance and procedures for inspections and citations, and enforcement letters of interpretation they should use.
The latest relevant New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 18A:17-43.4), passed in 2022, tackles violence through the Department of Education. Under the department’s Office of School Preparedness and Emergency Planning, the security focus now requires district or school-based “threat assessment teams.”
The department also oversees the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act (ABR)—last amended in 2022. It applies only to students, unless staff are accused of harassment, intimidation or bullying (HIB) of students. A detailed HIB definition covers written or electronic communications and verbal or physical acts. Five regulations provide more details. The Education Law Center, has a guide for those using this law, including details about how it has been applied.
The Public School Safety Law requires the commissioner to submit annually a Student Safety and Discipline report to the Legislature. Part of the Student Safety Data System run by the Department of Education, it includes the department’s response to the analysis and future objectives. It also is supposed to reflect the department’s initiatives to help schools implement “Social Emotional Learning competencies, positive approaches to discipline, and improving school climate and culture.”
The latest annual report shows 2021-22 school year HIB incidents were the highest levels recorded since counting began in 2017. The Anti-Bullying Task Force’s December 2023 report described the 7,672 confirmed and 19,138 reported incidents as “staggering.”
What about “threat assessment teams?”
Districts now must establish and train multidisciplinary “threat assessment teams” to identify and assess students demonstrating “concerning communications or behavior.” (Profiling students is not allowed.) The goal is to help identify students with “concerning behaviors,” assess the risk they will do something harmful and deliver strategies to manage the possible harm.
“That came about as a result of students calling in bomb threats, coming to school with weapons, swapping out guns for drugs in school bathrooms, that type of activity,” says Aileen O’Driscoll, director of NJEA’s Legal Services and Member Rights.
“Based on some of the legal cases we’re seeing in our own ranks, [these issues are] a relatively new phenomenon.”
The causes often are structural. The state’s teacher shortage, the “real lack of special education teachers in the ranks” and proper support for students who need it, likely contribute, O’Driscoll says. “The mental and emotional health consequences of the pandemic are greater than anybody probably realizes for these kids, and adults too.”
“It’s still so new, there’s not a lot of case law about it,” explains Katrina Homel, an associate director in Legal Services and Member Rights.
She has started doing workshops about the new law and what it means for NJEA members. At the same time, she and O’Driscoll are reaching out to the state bar association and others who need to know about the new law.
“We’re also gathering, and hearing more and more about, our members’ typical experiences in the classroom, around the physicality of students and the difficulty in getting the proper supports that the students and teachers need,” O’Driscoll says.
At the same time, they plan to collaborate with, and learn from, other National Education Association affiliates, such as California and Minnesota, to investigate what works and what doesn’t.
What can health and safety committees do?
New Jersey provides rules and guidance about school-related violence without always recognizing it’s a health and safety hazard and PEOSH’s enforcement role. That can make it difficult for health and safety committees and local associations to take a prevention focus, especially if incidents aren’t recorded on the injury and illness logs employers must keep, commonly called as “300 logs.”
Studies also show that supportive school culture, restorative justice and nonviolent communication—longer-term efforts—are more effective than security-focused responses.
The New Jersey School Climate Improvement Strategy Resource (see sidebar) cites studies about the successes and usefulness of the restorative justice framework in schools. Implementing it “requires a cultural shift away from punitive, zero-tolerance policies to more holistic, communal forms of understanding and assigning consequences.”
Committees should:
- Get training about violence prevention with a systems of safety focus (e.g., from New Jersey Work Environment Council).
- Survey and meet with members to get details about their experiences and concerns.
- Get a handle on all the district players involved around violence, including the new teams, trying to coordinate with them about reporting, training and prevention with a health and safety focus.
- Encourage and support members filing SSDS incident reports and insist they also go on the district’s “300 log.”
- Regularly review the log and other reports, looking for patterns and to determine what follow-up is needed, and by whom.
- Learn about, promote and use restorative justice policies and practices. File PEOSH and police complaints, when appropriate, with help from the local association and UniServ reps.
Resources
Education Law Center
New Jersey Department of Education
New Jersey Anti-Bullying Task Force 2023 report
School Preparedness and Emergency Planning
resources, including guidelines for “Behavioral Threat Assessment” Teams:
Student Safety Data System (including incident report forms):
homeroom4.doe.state.nj.us/ssds
NJEA
NJEA Review
“Violence is Much More Than Guns”
“Let’s Not Fear Having Courageous Conversations”
New Jersey School Climate Improvement Platform
OSHA
“Workplace violence”
PEOSH
“Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illness Standard”
AID-NJEA
AID-NJEA is a free, confidential 24-hour telephone helpline for school staff members and their families. The helpline is staffed by active and retired educators and school counselors who are trained to counsel and support their colleagues. The program provides telephone support, information and resources for school employees experiencing some distress in their work or personal lives.
Call 866-AID-NJEA (866-243-6532) or email AID-NJEA@ubhc.rutgers.edu.