Here we are at the beginning of the new year and like many individuals we shall reflect on the year and what sort of goals we would like to reach this year. For many it will be dealing with health, family, vacations, or business. I have talked before about one of my own goals in the community and that is, dealing with the subject of bullying for students in school.
Our word of the month in January is VISION and having a vision of what you want to accomplish and what it will look like when it is done is a major step in reaching your goal. So what does this vision look like?
I see students learning specifically what is a bully, how to use their words to deflect bullying, and I see students teaching younger students about the same. I also see our website as a wealth of information for teachers and parents and what they can do to intervene when these situations come up. I will be sharing resources that will educate and encourage all of us to meet this head on.
Can you picture in your mind our students having the courage to stand up to those that would pick on others or those that exclude others. It is a mindset that we can set the example for and help our students see the value in practicing. Our students can be heroes in their own school by stepping up to this challenge.
Our success in this goal, in our vision, is tied to our community working together. We know WHY we want to do this, it is for the safe education of our children and now we must work on the HOW by developing specific actions and deadlines. If you are interested in helping with defining this in our community please feel free to talk to me about this goal. If your child has ever been bullied you understand the importance of this goal.
Every teacher has their own classroom management procedures and they no doubt will fit their particular personality. The skills listed below are very general principles that apply to any method that you may choose and will have beneficial affects on the classroom and the students as well as the teachers morale.
Rearranging the Environment: There are some personalities that should not sit next to each other in a learning environment. There may be, depending on the age other arrangements that can be made too, like sitting in a circle or huddled up with the teacher that may be affective. How we line the kids up or transitions in the class can all be looked at to see if there may be another way for them to be done to reduce bullying.
Establishing Clear Classroom Rules: Setting expectations for students is important so there is no doubt in their mind of what their conduct should be in this environment. Some may choose to have a set of rules and others may have a single principle that they attempt to live by like, “Do unto others……, In my classroom I use single words. Respect, Discipline, Control and Focus are my favorite. They can be asked simply by saying “Does that show respect?”
Being Consistent: Consistencies take on two aspects. The first is, if you have a rule it must apply to all the children. That does not mean that you are not sensitive to students who may have special needs. But in a kind manner the rules and the consequences should be meted out equally. Second is our own behavior. As instructors we should demonstrate for our students how to treat others with respect. We must demonstrate the discipline and control we want them to show. Students will look at our example to see if we bully or not. Continue reading “8 Steps to Prevent Bullying in the Classroom for Teachers”
Schools are not feeling as safe for many students as they once were. In fact on any given day 160,000 students stay at home due to fear of bullying or other forms of violence here in the United States. Everyone involved have concern in regard to the safety of children in school, from the children themselves to the parents and educators. Yet for many educators prevention and intervention is difficult due to a lack of specific training.
Added to this is the issue that many times both teachers and parents have certain beliefs that we will discuss in detail later that tend to cause them to overlook true bullying situations. When this overlooking occurs it leads the students to believe that the teacher or parent is not concerned or does not care or that they simply are unaware of the situation or problem leading them not to come forward to speak about the issue.
If there is one thing that the research shows Continue reading “4 Steps for Parents and Teachers to Prevent Bullying at Home and School”
The Buddhist Answer to Bullies
Published in Psychology Today this article list 5 steps in stopping bullying.
- See the suffering
- Protect yourself
- Use Mantra’s
- Apply Kindness
If you would like to see the full article here is the link. The Buddhist Answer to Bullies
I found this article interesting, though I must say that we must be careful in all of our suggestions to our children or ourselves about bullying that we do not leave the victim feeling “less than”. This leads to a life time of issues that will only need to be dealt with later in life.
I am looking forward to teaching a Verbal Self Defense this fall that has been taught to and used by police officers all over the world. It is called Verbal Judo. I recently completed a college course for this and am preparing to bring it to our community this fall. Verbal Judo is excellent in that it allows all parties to not lose face and stay strong themselves, especially the victim of the attack.