Stop Bullying Now!
Bullying Prevention for Schools; Cyber-Bullying

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October 31, 2007

ISSN: 1538-3202

Issue: 410
Subscribers: 54,386

In This Issue:


Bullying Prevention - for Schools

Cyberbullying Prevention

Good Books on Bullying

training

Special Education Law & Advocacy Training
with Pete & Pam Wright

Agenda

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Training & Book Combos

 

More Resources from Wrightslaw

Behavior and Discipline
Discrimination

Harassment and Bullying

Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crimes

 

From the National School Boards Association Leadership Insider

1. Coming to Grips with Harassment and Bullying

2. Strong School Board Policies Can Help Prevent Bullying

3. When Can Schools Discipline Students for Cyber-Bullying?

4. Sticks and Stones in Cyberspace

5. Practical Tips on Dealing with Cyber-bullying

 

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Pete and Pam Wright
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P. O. Box 1008
Deltaville, VA 23043

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Copyright © 2007, Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright. All rights reserved. Please do NOT reprint or host on your website without explicit permission.

"If we want to have peace in the world, we have to start with the children." - Ghandi

This is Part 2 of our series on Bullying and Harassment in Schools.

In this issue of the Special Ed Advocate we discuss the problem of harassment and bullying and best strategies and practices to prevent it. We've been answering requests all week to use our resource list. This week we've provided even more resources.

Last week, Part 1 featured:

  • Stop Bullying Now: Reports and Resources
  • Bullying Prevention - for Kids
  • Bullying Prevention - for Parents

Save this week's newsletter or bookmark it on Wrightslaw. You will want to have these articles and resources available.

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Bullying Prevention - for Schools

School is supposed to be a place where students feel safe and secure, and where they can count on being treated with respect.

Bullying can have devastating effects on victims:

  • Difficulty concentrating on school work
  • Marginal to poor academic performance
  • High absenteeism and dropout rates
  • Enduring psychological scars

What is the seriousness of bullying in American schools?

  • 29.9% of students self-reported frequent involvement in bullying at school
  • 13% participating as a bully
  • 10.9% as a victim
  • 6% as both

It is important for schools to help children and young adolescents learn how to manage, and potentially change, the pressure to hurt their classmates in order to "fit in." Read more in Bullying in Early Adolescence: The Role of the Peer Group.

Here are some articles that discuss how schools can better handle bullying.

A 2006 study of urban elementary school teachers in the U.S. found that 40% of teachers admitted that they had bullied a student, and 3% did so "frequently."

"Although most professional educators are ethical in their conduct, bullying of students by teachers needs to be recognized as a problem". Read Teachers Who Bully Students: Patterns and Policy Implications.

If you are a teacher, behavior management in the classroom is always a challenge. What is the difference between behavior management and bullying? Linda Starr says you can tell the difference. Find out in Are You A Bully?

Find out more about efforts that have been directed toward developing school policies on bullying, staff training, and prevention and intervention programming.

Learn as much as you can about bullying among children and youth and best practices for addressing bullying. Read What Teachers Can Do.

The National School Safety Center has excellent resource information about how to create bully-resistant schools.

Bullying in Schools

Read Bullying in Schools: Fact Sheet Series

Bullying in Schools: Discussion Activities for School Communities

Bullying in Schools: Talking with Hilda About Bullying

Preventing Classroom Bullying: What Teachers Can Do, by Jim Wright of Intervention Central.

If you want practical information for school personnel concerned with reducing bullying among students read Schools Where Everyone Belongs: Practical Strategies for Reducing Bullying, by Stan Davis.

Find out more about the National Education Association's "National Bullying Awareness Campaign".

Are you a teacher or principal?

Check out the Bullies2buddies website by Izzy Kalman, MS.

"If you are happy with your school’s anti bullying program, you may not need this website.

But if the anti bullying program doesn’t seem to be doing what you expected, you have come to the right place."

You will find a manual for teachers and parents (free download): A Revolutionary Guide to Reducing Aggression between Children

Has your school reached an agreement on what bullying is? Some think it is any sort of aggression; some limit it to physical means; some do not include indirect bullying.

From the AskERIC section on bullying, Dr. Ken Rigby defines bullying in a New Look at an Old Concept.

Studies from NoBully.org found that what works best is a whole school approach.

Studies have found dramatic reductions in bullying of between 20-80% when school wide strategies are used.

Read the Stop Bullying: Guidelines 4 Schools at NoBully.org.

You can find this article and many other excellent resources on bullying the Uniquely Gifted website.

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Cyberbullying Prevention

What is named as the top school trouble of kids 8-15?

Homework? Cafeteria food?

Neither – it's bullying.

In a recent study of students in grades 6-8, of those students who had been cyberbullied frequently (at least twice in the last couple of months):

* 62% said that they had been cyberbullied by another student at school

* 46% had been cyberbullied by a friend

The National Crime Prevention Council instituted a cyberbullying prevention campaign that targets 12 and 13-year-olds, particularly girls. But in today's "virtual world," cyberbullying can affect those even younger.

Don't Write It! Don't Forward It! Find information about cyberbullying for kids, teens, and parents at the Cyberbullying Prevention Campaign - Delete Cyber Bullying!

"So called cyber bullying is the most rapidly expanding kind of abusive behaviour among school children." For information for schools, parents and children of all ages, go to StopCyberBullying.org.

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Good Books

The Bullying Prevention Handbook

The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander

Bullies to Buddies: How to turn your enemies into friends

Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do

Bullies are a Pain in the Brain

Childhood Bullying: What School Personnel, Other Professionals, and Parents Can Do

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