Anti-bullying Programs
This story from Kansas City infozine.com:
“Evidence demonstrating the long-term effects of bullying combined with high-profile incidents of school violence have led to greater support for anti-bullying initiatives. More than three-quarters of elementary and middle schools participated in anti-bullying programs in 2006, according to the National School Boards Association.
Anti-bullying efforts have focused primarily on prevention through character education programs. Rona C. Kaufman said she began infusing character education into Hannah Penn Middle School in York, Pa., soon after becoming principal in 2003.
The in-school suspension room was converted into a character education room, in which a teacher and students work together to improve attitudes. This often focuses on discussing and analyzing neighborhood problems. All students received lessons in ethical decision making and proper manners.
A curriculum focused on social and emotional development also boosts students’ academic success, Poland said.
Many speakers emphasized the need to put students at the forefront of any anti-bullying campaign. Students generally know who the bullies are and where the bullying occurs, Poland said.
Jacquelyn Andrews, 16, a junior at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N.J., developed a 180-hour anti-bullying program for grades three to eight that includes activities such as drawing and writing picture books about how to form alliances against bullies. Andrews is the daughter of Rep. Robert E. Andrews, D-N.J.
And Cassady Tetsworth, 17, a senior at Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, N.C., and is a youth advisory board member for Students Against Violence Everywhere, said her chapter role-plays bullying situations so students know how to respond when somebody else is being bullied.
Kaufman’s efforts at character education have had a dramatic impact. Discipline referrals at Hannah Penn fell nearly two-thirds during the 2007-2008 school year, vandalism had virtually disappeared and there were fewer reports of bullying.”
(Click here for complete story.)
SchoolTipline applauds these students and schools for taking the initiative and creating anti-bullying programs.
SchoolTipline agrees that it is the involvement of students that will make an anti-bullying program successful. With the new school year approaching there needs to be an increased effort going toward these programs to help increase school safety for the new school year.
Tags: anti-bullying, back-to-school, bullying, schooltipline
