Bullying Awareness & Prevention: Safeguarding Dignity & Respect for All Students

Workshop Goals: Continue the discussion: Review and discuss the movie Bully Set personal goals for the new school year

Definition of Bullying Bullying among children is commonly defined as intentional, repeated hurtful acts, words or behavior such as name-calling, threatening and/or shunning committed by one or more children against another. The victims do not intentionally provoke these negative acts, and for such acts to be defined as bullying, an imbalance of real or perceived power must exist between the bully and the victim. 3

Facts & Figures Related to Bullying Bullying is the most common form of violence experienced by young people in the nation 13 million children in the U.S. will be bullied in school this year Every 7 minutes a child in the U.S. is bullied Everyday, 160,000 students skip school for fear of being bullied 40-70% of incidents in school take place during class breaks, in the lunchroom, bathroom, or hallways Less than 14% of middle and high school students say they would report an incident to a teacher, staff member, or administrator

Facts & Figures Related to Bullying Bullied students are 3 times more likely to drop out of school LGBT students: 60% feel unsafe at school; 1/3 missed classes and at least one day of school in the past month Students say teachers take action only 25% of the time while teachers report they intervene 70% of the time year olds surveyed: 90% don’t tell adults about cyber-bullying…..most common reason – they are told they ‘need to learn to deal with it themselves’

Bully a film by Lee Hirsch released April 2012 Bully: An Action Plan for Teachers, Parents, and Communities to Combat the Bullying Crisis Edited by Hirsch, Lowen, and Santorelli (2012) 6

1. How successful was the assistant principal in handling the situation? Issue of apologies…. 7

2. 30% of children who report having been bullied have brought weapons to school Attitude of police? 8

3. Attitude of school administrators Reaction of parents and others at town meeting 9

4. Who defends the bullied? 10

5. Friends……. 11

6. The bus…..and how the situation was handled by the school administrator – What needs to happen? 12

7. What can we do? 13

Proactive Strategies Insist on respectful interactions between students & show students that you care about them. Reinforce positive behaviors by bringing attention to acts of kindness. Be firm with students: “We don’t use that language or behave that way toward others in this school.” Look for signs of student distress: – Avoidance of others – Changes in personality or mood – Distracted from school work – Fear of being alone 14

Proactive Strategies 15 Discipline Policies – not the same as being punitive Punishment may stop a behavior but does nothing to change it Adult supervision Adult modeling of behavior Active bystander Promote positive peer interactions Positive Classroom / school environment

Proactive Strategies Eyes open – assume bullying is happening; be vigilant Movement / proximity – kids don’t want to be caught Know your students – who are the likely victims? Who are the likely bullies? Support both students in a positive, constructive way Be a safe person to confide in Not just tolerance…work to encourage cooperation and looking out for others Change must involve ALL parties, not just moving the child who is being bullied…. 16

Proactive Strategies 17 If you see something, say something: To the students Bring any concern to the attention of an administrator, teacher, or school psychologist/social worker Keep a record of incidents

If a child comes to you….. Listen and believe the child Don’t make promises Gather the facts ID allies for the child Tell others Help the child avoid the bully but be fair to everyone Kids need to take an active part – not just told what to do – Step in and help 18

Problem-solving and Conflict Resolution STAND S = Stop and calm down T = Take turns telling the problem – you can summarize each view….now how do we solve this? A = List alternatives – let the students come up with ideas N = Narrow the choices – (discard what is unacceptable to either student, unsafe or unwise) D = Decide on the best choice – what might happen if you try that? What’s one change that might work for the both of you? 19

Getting Ready: What can you do? What are you going to do? 20