Janene Beck-Hafner, Ph.D. Director of Pupil Services, Coordinator of Summer Programs, AODA Grant Coordinator Middle School/High School Family Group Facilitators: Jason Gums, Adam Svatek, Leigh Brown, Lori Flannery, Juli Gauerke SSA Video

o Following the school year, bullying and harassment were identified as a significant problems at the Antigo Middle School and Antigo High School o Through the administration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 40% of students reported they felt unsafe at school or that it was hard to do his/her best at school due to being harassed, picked on or bullied. o In response to the concerns, District leaders developed a plan to stop the cycle of violence

o Students are communicating differently than in the past o Cell Phone Use o Facebook o Games, TV, Reality Shows o Reliance on the school system to teach social norms o Economic conditions usually attribute to an increase in violence of all forms

o Spring of 2008, a three-year renewing AODA grant was applied for and awarded o District Level Safe Schools Committee was created o Principals o School Counselors o School Police Liaison Officer o A Student Harassment/Anti-Bullying policy was also created for the District o Anti-bullying programs were researched and Safe School Ambassadors was chosen o Research shows that peer intervention programs are successful o District wanted to implement a program with peer intervention versus adult intervention

o Safe School Ambassador program trains students on how to interact with their peers to prevent or stop mistreatment: o Exclusion o Put Downs o Bullying – Teasing, Harassment o Physical Confrontation o Environmental Violence

o Students are chosen to be Safe School Ambassadors (SSA)based on their leadership strengths across the spectrum of social networks o Students are trained and empowered to intervene and end bullying o Students help their friends to make better choices about how to treat others o The mixture of leadership qualities and personalities supports the framework of the SSA program by building relationships across peer groups and breaks down barriers between those groups

o Approximately 60 students at the Antigo Middle School and Antigo High School are training as Safe School Ambassadors(SSA) o Students are divided into groups with the group leader being a teacher or other educator trained in the SSA program as a Family Group Facilitator o After the training is completed ambassadors and their Family Group Facilitators meet regularly to sharpen their skills, sustain their commitment and increase their reporting of dangerous activities o Refresher and Expansion training – each year through grant funding –taught by our own District trainers

Spring of 2011, trained Family Group Facilitators to become trainers of the SSA program—planning for declining AODA grant funding Middle School and High School Trainers train students every fall---continue SSA in our middle school and high school Additionally, reaching out to the 4 th and 5 th grade students in our elementary schools and training them on the concepts of SSA

© 2009 Community Matters 9 Occurring at younger ages Getting meaner Becoming more acceptable in youth culture More difficult for adults to identify because students are becoming experts in electronic aggression

Visible Less Visible Fights Weapons Gangs Physical bullying Reactive Catch Discipline Suspend Expel Unwanted contact Relational aggression Exclusion Put-downs Rumors Cyber-bullying Harassment Pro-active Prevent Intervene De-escalate

© 2009 Community Matters 11 9 of 10 elementary students have been bullied by their peers 6 of 10 have bullied others - Stanford University / Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital Study, 2007 A third of students in 6th - 10th grades nationwide experienced some kind of bullying. - National Institutes of Health

© 2009 Community Matters 12 Among middle-schoolers, in a typical 30 days: Over 33% had cyberbullied another student Over 20% admitted to doing it just to make others laugh Over 40% reported being victims Youth who have been victims have suicidal ideation 72% more frequently/ intensively than those who have not been victims.

High school and Middle School…. Facebook Twitter Cell Phones s………………….and others

Facebook Video Quick Video of High school Training Session Who Sees It? Self Friends Family Coworkers

© 2009 Community Matters 15 What are the personal costs to youth of mistreatment? Illness - Absenteeism Drug and alcohol use or abuse Depression Eating disorders Self-mutilation Suicide

© 2009 Community Matters 16 What are the institutional costs to schools of mistreatment? Students can’t focus and learn Time spent on discipline Lower teacher and staff morale People are afraid and tense Students bring weapons

© 2009 Community Matters 17 Linking School Safety to Academic Achievement Physical needs Safety physical & emotional Belonging Self-esteem Self actualization (achievement) (Maslow’s Hierarchy)

© 2009 Community Matters 18 AGGRESSOR AGGRESSOR when someone hurts others. BYSTANDER when someone watches a target get hurt. TARGET TARGET when someone gets hurt.

© 2009 Community Matters 19 Exclusion - target feels…LEFT OUT Put-downs - target feels…HURT (emotionally) Bullying - target feels…AFRAID Unwanted physical contact - target feels…VIOLATED Acts Against Campus - affects…EVERYONE

© 2009 Community Matters20 Warning signs of children’s being excluded, mistreated, bullied, harassed, or worried: Child has frequent physical cuts/injuries Child seems afraid to go to school Child has lost interest in sports, games, school in general Child appears nervous, has trouble sleeping, is anxious or irritable Child begins bullying younger siblings

© 2009 Community Matters 21 Students: See, hear and know things adults don ’ t. Can intervene in ways adults can ’ t. Are first to arrive at an incident of mistreatment. Set the tone and social norms on campus.

Targets Aggressors Bystanders 85% = Passive Majority Dynamic of Mistreatment

A research-based, field-tested program to engage, equip and empower students to reduce bullying and other forms of mistreatment. developed by Community Matters

© 2009 Community Matters 24 Classes or Cliques Diverse Student Leaders  Socially-influential youth  Empathic & compassionate  High verbal skills, outgoing nature  Tendency to speak up on behalf of others  Strong sense of fairness

© 2009 Community Matters 25 Three days Refresher and Expansion On- or offsite influential students 5-8 adults Safe School Ambassadors Program Training

© 2009 Community Matters 26 Notice Think Act Follow-through

© 2009 Community Matters 27 With whom do they intervene? Start with self “Walk the Talk” Friends & Family Others in school & community Classmates

© 2009 Community Matters 28 Balancing Supporting Reasoning Distracting Directing Getting Help

© 2009 Community Matters 29  Regularly-scheduled  Provide supervision  Deepen skills  Debrief experiences  Collect data  Connect & inspire Ongoing support & supervision: Family Group meetings

MS Video

Results of Safe School Ambassador Surveys YRBS Results from February 2011 Less than 25% of high school students reported being bullied at school in the last year Less than 15% of high school students reported experiencing electronic bullying in the last year Less than 8% of middle school students did not attend school because they felt unsafe at school Less than 16% of middle school students reported experiencing electronic bullying in the last year

© 2009 Community Matters 33 You ’ ve Got To Be Carefully Taught From the musical South Pacific By Rodgers and Hammerstein You've got to be taught to hate and fear, You've got to be taught from year to year, It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made, And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade, You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught before it's too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate, You've got to be carefully taught!

o Continue training through the staff who are licensed trainers in the program o Continue to document data in regards to bullying and harassment o Analyze the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey o Questions????? o THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Elementary Video