|
|
BULLYING HURTS AND KEEPS ON HURTING
Newsletter
Bully Beware's free newsletter keeps you up with the latest and hottest news about bullying. Every issue of this free newsletter is jam-packed with great information about bullying, news of our services and special offers for our merchandise. This is a totally spam-free service, as is our entire site, and your e-mail address will be used for nothing but our newsletter. Please send us an e-mail if you would like to submit any stories or experiences to the newsletter or if you have any suggestions.
Take Action Against Bullying
That is what we ask adults to do. Take Action Against Bullying. Do something. Do the right thing. Take Action. Please!!
But is this enough? Is it enough to say that your community or school is taking action against bullying? Well, that depends. Recent research suggests that anti-bullying programs alone do not reduce incidents of bullying in any significantly positive way. So, does that mean that schools and communities should not bother with these types of programs if they don’t work?? The answer is NO. What the research says is, anti bullying programs alone do not work. These programs cannot be put into place in isolation. Tackling the issue of bullying must be done in a multi faceted approach. The goal is to build a stronger, healthier school climate and culture.
When I work with school staffs and community support members to teach about bullying and the Bully B’ware Program, I have always said, “If you can’t take this issue on and give it the time it needs, don’t take it on”. Bullying is not something that can be dealt with using pencil and paper activities and done in a haphazard manner. It is not about kids rote reciting the correct answers to questions about how we treat each other. Taking on the issue of bullying is often about trying to change the culture of the school, and sometimes even the community, and this takes time and commitment.
One school I worked with kept a five year record of the kinds of changes they made, and the ensuing results. They found out that, together with an anti bullying program, they needed to define their school in terms of how they wanted to be known. They had to reach out to the community and build trusting relationships with the parents, as well as inviting community businesses and corporations to take some ownership of supporting the students in the community. The 5 year program and results are listed below.
1. Jan. 1998 – Instituted Bully B’ware Program
School history and stats. Jan. – June, 1998
- Inner city designation, with usual community profile in economically challenged community
- Kindergarten –grade 6 – 300 students
- Up to 27 different languages spoken throughout the community
- Predominantly eastern European population, high e.s.l.
- Windows were boarded up during summer months to prevent breakages
- High incidents of vandalism, graffiti
- 35% transient population
- Playground fights a common occurrence
- Litter everywhere
- 34 out of school suspensions Dec. – June of that year
- $2200.00 in window breakage costs
2. July, 1997 - June 1998
- 35 % transiency
- Community school programs throughout the summer and school year, low cost, school open for community to access
- Number of suspensions reduced to just over 20
- Instituted a “zero tolerance”
- Reviewed with students behaviour expectations
- Began “Caughtcha” rewards program for students caught doing random acts of kindness of deeds of good citizenship
- Developed school song
- Had the school painted (outside)
- Ran a program Friday nights for at risk teens
- Reduced window breakage cost from $2200.00 to just over $300.00
- Started community kitchen program
3. Sept 1998-June 1999
- transient population reduces slightly, for the first time we have a new ethnic group of new Canadians
- work with Community Transition group to introduce new families to our cultures and behavioural expectations for kids
- Solicit corporate sponsorship
- Revisit the formal Bully B’ware program. Out of school suspensions drop to less that 10
- Very few playground fights
- Transition to a Kindergarten to grade 5 school is complete
- Begin a leadership program with students grades3-5
- Office referrals for incidents of bullying drop from 92 to 39
- Vandalism to the building increases throughout the summer due to extensive renovations
- Vandals caught and restitution made in the form of community programs (girls offered a dance program to students)
- Litter problems evaporate
4. Sept. 1999-June 2000
- Renovations completed
- School is profiled in the magazine portion of a National News Program as a “safe school”
- Student pride shows through
- Less than 5 suspensions, only 2 from bullying incidents
- Community school programs increase every year in popularity
- Bullying incidents are more non-violent: relational among the boys and girls: harder to detect, more insidious
- Students/parents encouraged to report
5. Sept. 2000 – June 2001
- Very few suspensions
- Vandals responsible for one act of vandalism (over 50% of the total cost of all vandalism) caught and held responsible; restitution in the form of offering a community
- Program for students (baseball)
- Bullying at a maintenance level
Interesting Facts I’ve Learned (from the Administrator)
- The culture of the school must change, which could change the culture of the community
- The leader must believe that this is an important issue
- Follow-up and follow through with students and parents is key to this working
- Parents and the community must know what the behaviour expectations are in the school, and what the consequences are
- Children from other schools who arrive with reputations as tough kids will change when the culture of the school surrounding them is positive, solid and in place – they will
- Rise to the level of behaviour expected, and they will be surprised
- Learning capability goes up when students feel proud and are not frightened
So PLEASE, do take action against bullying. Do it within the culture of the school, and expect change to take time. Notice the changes. Celebrate and share them with your school boards. Be proud that you have made a difference. Be patient.
Until Next month….
Special – 15% off facilitator’s workshops for this month. Book a workshop sometime in the next month (for the 2007/08 school year) and receive 15% off the total cost. Contact Sandra for details at info@bullybeware.com
Bully B'ware Productions
6 Bedingfield Street,
Port Moody,
British Columbia,
Canada V3H 3N1
Telephone/Fax: (604) 936-8000
or 1-888-552-8559
E-mail: info@bullybeware.com
Request a workshop
Links
|
|
