Joint Statement from OSAA, ODE, COSA, SBE, and OSBA: Committing to proactive measures to end harassment and bullying at student activities and athletics.
Communities throughout Oregon rely on student activities and athletic events to be a safe haven of support and collegiality. These activities are important places where students, families, and staff can join together with pride and enthusiasm that comes with community, competition, and celebration.
At each event that happens at a school, so many people have shared their time and energy to make it a great experience for everyone who attends. Students put hours, weeks, and sometimes years into their performances, whether artistic, academic, or athletic. It takes us all working together to ensure that these activities remain welcoming and fun.
Unfortunately, it only takes one incident to create a negative experience that can frighten and intimidate students and families, limit student participation, suppress volunteer interest, erode community support and reputation, and interfere with the benefits that these activities would otherwise bring to everyone involved. It only takes one incident to impart long lasting harm to an individual or community.
Since before 2019 and continuing into recent years, our organizations have become aware of increasing negativity, bullying, and even hate speech and symbols entering into these activities. We are also dedicated to preventing and responding to harassing conduct. Harassing conduct may take many forms, including verbal intimidation and name-calling; graphic and written statements, which include use of cell phones or the Internet; costumes or other physical expressions; or other conduct that may be physically threatening, harmful, or humiliating. Harassment does not have to include intent to harm, be directed at a specific person or group, or involve repeated incidents.
Each person who is at a school event is able to help make it great. School administrators, event managers, and athletic directors are required to enforce existing policies (listed below) and set their own proactive measures to prevent harassment. They must have a plan in place to discourage and respond to negative behavior. Students can walk into events ready to cheer on their peers without bringing negativity towards others. Spectators and other adults must set a good example by lifting people up, not tearing people down.
When harassment or bullying happens at events based on age, disability, national origin, race, color, marital status, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation, it violates civil rights laws that our organizations are required to enforce.
The following policies apply to schools in Oregon in these situations:
1. At their recent summer workshop, the OSAA Executive Board reviewed and approved OSAA’s Interrupting and Preventing Discriminatory Acts Training, which is a new, one-time certification requirement for all athletic directors, coaches, and officials beginning this Fall. This training is in response to an uptick in discriminatory acts taking place across the country and an increased focus from the National Federation of State High School Associations on sportsmanship in all sports. It is intended to increase awareness and intentional planning/communication for interscholastic events.
2. The OSAA has a complaint response process guide and complaint form which help districts to adhere to Rule 3 of the handbook, requiring sportsmanlike conduct. The OSAA will sanction schools whom it has found negligent in the duties of reasonably protecting those involved in interscholastic activities from derogatory or inappropriate names, insults, verbal assaults, profanity, ridicule or engaging in behavior deemed by the member school to endanger the safety or wellbeing of students, employees, self or others.
3. The OSAA launched the S.T.A.R. Initiative to encourage Safety, Tolerance, Acceptance and Respect at Oregon high school athletic events while disrupting racism and combatting discrimination. The initiative includes pregame announcements to encourage a positive focus on the student competitors and position hateful, intimidating, and bullying behavior by anyone, including athletes, parents and community members, as completely unacceptable.
4. Every district in Oregon is required to adopt an Every Student Belongs policy by state law, which applies to hate symbols and bias incidents that may occur at athletic events and school activities. We recommend that in addition to these policies, athletic directors and event managers should be well-versed in their district’s policies and procedures, as well as ODE’s guidance for responding to bias incidents.
5. Every school board in Oregon is required to adopt a policy in accordance with ORS 339.356 prohibiting harassment, intimidation or bullying and prohibiting cyberbullying. These policies carry over to school-sponsored events and must be adhered to during extracurricular activities. School districts are encouraged to develop the policy after consultation with parents and guardians, school employees, volunteers, students, administrators and community representatives.
6. Every school board is required to adopt written policies which assure equity, opportunity and access for all students in each school and program as provided in OAR 581-021-0045 and 581-021-0046. This extends to school-sponsored activities and events.
In addition to these policies, we implore all of Oregon’s education associations, schools, and districts to take their own proactive measures to show that behavior that is insulting, demeaning or hurtful will not be tolerated in our communities.
Let’s create a culture in our communities and at our events that values the worth of every single person.
Signed,
Peter Weber, Executive Director, Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA)
Guadalupe Martinez Zapata, Chair of the Oregon State Board of Education
Jim Green, Executive Director, Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA)
Craig Hawkins, Executive Director, Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA)
Anthony Veliz, Community Leader
Colt Gill, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, Oregon Department of Education (ODE)
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Declaración conjunta de OSAA, ODE, COSA, SBE y OSBA: Comprometerse con medidas proactivas para acabar con el acoso y la intimidación en las actividades y deportes estudiantiles.
Las comunidades de Oregon confían en que las actividades estudiantiles y los eventos deportivos pueden ser un refugio seguro de apoyo y compañerismo. Estas actividades son lugares importantes donde los estudiantes, las familias y el personal pueden unirse con el orgullo y el entusiasmo que genera la comunidad, la competencia y la celebración.
En cada evento que ocurre en una escuela, muchas personas comparten su tiempo y energía para que sea una gran experiencia para todos los asistentes. Los estudiantes dedican horas, semanas y a veces años a sus presentaciones, ya sean artísticas, académicas o deportivas. Es necesario que todos trabajemos juntos para garantizar que estas actividades sigan siendo acogedoras y divertidas.
Desafortunadamente, solo se necesita que ocurra un incidente para crear una experiencia negativa que puede asustar e intimidar a los estudiantes y las familias, limitar la participación de los estudiantes, suprimir el interés de los voluntarios, deteriorar el apoyo y la reputación de la comunidad e interferir con los beneficios que estas actividades traerían a todos los involucrados. Solo se necesita un incidente para causar un daño duradero a una persona o comunidad.
Desde antes de 2019 y en los últimos años, nuestras organizaciones se han dado cuenta del aumento de la negatividad, la intimidación e incluso el discurso y los símbolos de odio en estas actividades. También nos dedicamos a prevenir y responder a las conductas de acoso. La conducta de acoso puede adoptar muchas formas, incluida la intimidación verbal y los insultos; declaraciones gráficas y escritas, que incluyen el uso de teléfonos celulares o Internet; disfraces u otras expresiones físicas; u otra conducta que pueda ser físicamente amenazante, dañina o humillante. El acoso no tiene que incluir la intención de dañar, estar dirigido a una persona o grupo específico, o involucrar incidentes repetidos.
Cada persona que participa en un evento escolar puede ayudar a hacer que el evento sea una experiencia grandiosa. Se requiere que los administradores escolares, los directores de eventos y los directores deportivos hagan cumplir las políticas existentes (enumeradas a continuación) y establezcan sus propias medidas proactivas para prevenir el acoso. Deben tener un plan para desalentar y responder al comportamiento negativo. Los estudiantes pueden asistir a los eventos listos para animar a sus compañeros sin generar negatividad hacia los demás. Los espectadores y otros adultos deben dar un buen ejemplo apoyando a la gente, no perjudicándola.
Cuando el acoso o la intimidación ocurren en eventos basados en la edad, la discapacidad, el origen nacional, la raza, el color, el estado civil, la religión, la identidad de género y la orientación sexual, violan las leyes de derechos civiles que nuestras organizaciones deben hacer cumplir.
Las siguientes políticas se aplican a las escuelas de Oregon en estas situaciones:
Además de estas políticas, solicitamos que todas las asociaciones educativas, escuelas y distritos de Oregon que tomen sus propias medidas proactivas para demostrar que el comportamiento insultante, degradante o hiriente no será tolerado en nuestras comunidades.
Creemos una cultura en nuestras comunidades y en nuestros eventos que valore el valor de cada persona.
Firmado,
Peter Weber, Director Ejecutivo, Asociación de Actividades Escolares de Oregon (OSAA)
Guadalupe Martínez Zapata , Presidenta de la Junta Educativa del Estado de Oregon
Jim Green , Director Ejecutivo, Asociación de Juntas Escolares de Oregon (OSBA)
Craig Hawkins, Director Ejecutivo, Coalicion de Administradores Escolares de Oregon (COSA)
Anthony Veliz, Líder de la comunidad
Colt Gill, Superintendente Adjunto de Instrucción Pública, Departamento de Educación de Oregon (ODE)