Verbal Abuse

State law and chancellor’s regulations prohibit verbal abuse of students, which has been defined to include using language that causes fear or physical or mental distress; using language that denotes race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation, which tends to cause fear or mental distress; threatening physical harm; or belittling or ridiculing students.

Verbal abuse is not considered corporal punishment. If you are accused of verbal abuse, you should immediately notify your chapter leader. Consult Chancellor’s Regulation A-421 for additional information. Among other things, the regulation requires your principal to inform the staff about what constitutes verbal abuse. If accusations of verbal abuse are found to be unsubstantiated, all references to the accusations will be removed from your official school file.