BULLY PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

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BULLY PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

• Overview Bullying CAN Be Stopped!
• Boulton has adopted the most effective Bully
  prevention program available
• The Olweus Bully Prevention Program.
• It complements and supports Peacebuilder Behavior
  Management.
• Dr. Olweus'
  research indicates that
• the three most effective deterrants to bullying
  are 1 INCREASED SUPERVISION2 EMPOWER
  BYSTANDERS TO HELP THE VICTIM3 EMPOWERING THE
  VICTIMSParents! We need your support in all
  three of these areas.

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1 Increased Supervision
Adult Supervision is the Best Prevention . . .
And the Best Cure!
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Bullies rarely bully in full view of an authority
figure. What You Can Do

• Make sure your children are well supervised
  before and after school.
• Support the school in their efforts to increase
  supervision as the children arrive and leave
  school.
• Sign up to help increase supervision during lunch
  recess. This only needs to be once or twice a
  year. Sign up at back to school night, parent
  teacher conferences, or anytime! Just call or
  stop by the office to sign up.
• Lunch Recess Supervision When your day arrives,
  check in at the office first thing. You can wear
  a safety vest so children will recognize you . .
  . or simply wear the paper volunteer badge. Lunch
  recess goes from approximately 1130 - 100 p.m.
  but you do not need to come for the entire time.
  Come for as much time as you can, we appreciate
  any help you can give us. All you need to do is
  walk around the playground where the playground
  duties have a hard time supervising up on the
  hill, behind the portables, on the front and side
  of the buildings, make a sweep through the
  buildings to make sure children are not hanging
  out in the bathrooms or halls, and feel free to
  spend some time playing a game with your child
  and their friends if you wish. If you come across
  a child who is hurt, or students who are arguing
  or fighting, you do not need to handle it .
  Simply take the involved students to the duties,
  or inform a duty to come to the child or
  children. And THANK YOU!!

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2 Empower Bystanders to Help the Victims!
Bystanders are Not Neutral!!

• But if they speak up and lend a helping hand to
  the victims, the scales will easily tip in favor
  of eliminating bullying!

• If they do not intervene, they lend power to the
  bully through their silence!

Their weight decides who has the power!
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What You Can Do!

• Encourage your children to speak up and help the
  victim. It is a myth that anyone can be witness
  to bullying behavior and say they "didn't do
  anything!" If they did nothing . . . they just
  told the bully and the victim that the behavior
  they saw was o.k. by them, or not a big enough
  deal to say anything about. It is EXTREMELY
  important that our bystanders not only speak up,
  but that they actively help the victim

Reward your children for helping the victims
Praise them. Let them hear you telling others
about how proud you were of them when they stood
up for the victim.
Support the school if your child occasionally
receives consequences for not intervening! This
is a new policy. It will help us discourage the
children from being complacent. It will make a
phenomenal difference in motivating the
bystanders to step in and help, as well as
discouraging the bully!
Hey! Thats not funny! Cmon Bill and Nancy,
lets take John and play over near the duty!
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Bullying Back is not an option!
Teach your children how they can help the victim
without bullying back
They can tell the bully to stop. They can step
between the bully and the victim. They can take
the victim away to play somewhere else and do
something else. They can invite the victim to be
their friend and include them in subsequent
activities. They can go with the victim to
report to a duty. They can report to the duty
themselves. They can help ask other bystanders
to help. They can help the victim obtain and
fill out a bully report.
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3 Empowering Victims
You can Help Your Children
Just say no to feeling inferior!
Just say no to tattling-Use honest reporting
instead.
Just say no to bully backs!
Just say no to discouragement.
Just say no to caring about what the bully thinks!
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Why Bullying Back does not empower children.

• Bullying back might stop the bully from bothering
  one or two children. But more often than not, it
  just enrages the bully and causes him to increase
  his power through more aggressive means, or
  through increased numbers.
• Bullies are good at picking children who they
  know can't or won't fight back.
• If a child bullies back, it is no longer a
  bullying problem, it is simply a fight. The
  adults cannot determine or know who was at fault
  to begin with and your child will be punished
  right along with the bully. Even if they are an
  equal match to the bully, physically and/or
  emotionally, this is very discouraging to
  children and adds to their sense of helplessness.
• (IMPORTANT NOTE Remember Safe School"
  violations must be reported immediately-do not
  have your child put it on the bully report and
  wait. Report first . . . and add it to their
  bully report later!)

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SAFE SCHOOL VIOLATIONS

• No real or pretend weapons.
• No drugs, tobacco or alcohol.
• No fighting, harassment or discrimination.
• No disruptive behavior in a classroom or school
  activity.

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The Definition of Bullying

• 1. The bullying behavior has gone on over time
• 2. There is an imbalance of power in favor of the
  bully.

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Reporting Empowers VictimsWhat you can do and
Why

• Help your child keep a record of the bullys
  behavior.. Keeping a record is the best way to
  prove that 1. the bullying behavior has gone on
  over a period of time. It also is a great way to
  show that 2. your child has not bullied back.
  If your child is not fighting back, and the bully
  is still aggressive (whether physical or
  relationally that also proves there is an
  imbalance of power.
• You can use the report provided in the link--but
  it does not have to be that fancy. Help your
  child list dates and behaviors. Younger children
  can simply put tally marks on a calendar . . .
  Even kindergartners know how to do that! It is
  not hard, but it does take effort and patience
  and the children NEED our HELP!
• http//www.davis.k12.ut.us/staff/smiller/files/B9
  FA4C306D734BEF8E2DF85753A700A0.pdf
• Teach your child the difference between Tattling
  and Reporting Tattling is a ploy to get
  attention and is actually a form of bullying. It
  is not based on honestly reporting what is going
  on. But reporting is based on honesty and on
  caring about what is best for everyone the
  victim, the bully, and the entire atmosphere in
  the school.
• Reward your child for properly reporting bullying
  behavior! Children who properly report need to
  be supported and rewarded! Typically there is no
  reinforcement for telling . . . Teachers, duties,
  and parents are overwhelmed with countless
  verbal reports everyday. Children sense their
  annoyance. We cannnot make a change if we do not
  all work together to make the rewards for
  reporting much bigger than not reporting . . . Or
  than the negative reinforcers that come from
  tattling.

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Paper is PowerKeeping a record is very
effective. It accomplishes a number of things

• 1-It eliminates the attention kids get from
  tattling.
• 2-It shows the victim-and the adults- exactly
  what is happening. Children are naturally prone
  to distorted thinking. If the victim is
  minimizing, it will help them know they need
  help. If the victim is exaggerating, it will help
  them see how things really are.
• 3-Knowing they have a plan and can get the help
  they need is often times all children need to
  feel empowered. Bullies can sense when a child
  will not put up with their abuse.
• 4-It eliminates the need to fight or bully back.
  Children will begin to learn that they will be
  heard and supported.
• 5-It makes it possible for adults to properly
  punish the bullies and get them the serious help
  and interventions that they need.

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Using Power Behaviors empowers Victims!What you
can do Encourage your child to use power
behaviors!Make a checklist of power behaviors
they have tried. Help your child practice using
them! Using power behaviors can put a stop to
the bullying and prevent your child from being
victimized in the future. Wouldnt that be
nice?

• 1 Change Your Attitude ________
• Quit caring about what other people think ___
• Be confident and brave ________
• Look up not down ________
• Use a loud voice (shout if you need to so others
  can hear you and will see what is going on) ___
• Use I statements I dont like it when you say
  you are my friend and then wont let me play. It
  makes me feel left out. I want you to tell the
  truth.) ________
• Call the bully by his/her name _______
• 2 Change the Balance of Power ________
• Dont play alone________
• Play near the duty ________
• Ask bystanders for help ________
• Seek a wise person ________
• Who did you talk to? __________________
• ______________________________________
• 3 Change Your Response ________
• Try being nice
• Ignore. How many days? ________
• Avoid. How many days? ________
• Play with someone else ________

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Once the Victim Has Done His/Her Part . . . We
Must Support Them!

• By properly reporting and not bullying back, the
  victims have done the bully and the entire school
  and neighborhood a HUGE favor. They are true
  heroes and peacebuilders!
• Now the true bullies can be properly identified
  and soundly punished. Remember, a true bully is
  in serious need of quick interventions . . . It
  is their future that is most at risk.

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Boultons Policy for Bullying Offenses

• First offense Teacher intervention, including a
  student letter of apology or treaty. A written
  plan of action needs to be written for bullying.
• 2nd offense Child is sent to another
  classroom/plan is revised as needed. The parent
  is called.
• 3rd offense Teacher will write up a Behavior
  Referral and send the child to the office. The
  administration will review the plan, call the
  parent or hold a parent meeting.
• 4th offense Out of school suspension. This
  will either be at-home or between schools,
  depending on the principals discretion.
• REMEMBER Safe school Violations need to come
  directly to the office with a Behavioral
  Referral.

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What you can do if your child receives negative
consequences for bullying

• Be involved in the decision making process.
• Support the decisions.
• Follow up with negative consequences at home.
  (Be careful, usually when a child is involved in
  bullying, they find negative consequences
  rewarding! Yelling, spanking, threatening, etc.
  not only do not work in the long run, they are
  often rewarding to a bully. They can also turn
  abusive if you do it over time! Work together
  with the school to find consequences that feel
  punishing to your child, but are also not
  abusive. Usually, a complete lack of attention
  works the best. Increased chores are also
  great.)

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IMPORTANT NOTE

• Follow negative consequences with positive
  statements expressing your faith in the childs
  true good nature and ability to change.
• Children . . . even bullies . . . actually want
  to be good. It is up to us as parents and
  educators to provide them with strong enough
  POSITIVE REINFORCEMENTS for good behavior and
  strong enough NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENTS for bad
  behavior to make it easy for them to BE GOOD!
• It is also most important to constantly give
  children a chance to try again. It allows them
  to feel that they still have a chance and
  indicates your faith in the child and his ability
  to learn. Rudolf Dreikurs, M.D.

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Thank YOU!!!

• Working together . . . We can put a stop to
  bullying and provide ALL the children with the
  best possible atmosphere for learning!