Moving away from Bullying…. To talking about: Improving School Climate

But first A little background

Definition per CGS d “Any overt acts by a student or a group of students directed against another student with the intent to ridicule, harass, humiliate or intimidate the other student while on school grounds, as a school-sponsored activity or on a school bus, which acts are committed more than once against any student during the school year.”

What does the anti-bullying law say: Each district must develop and implement an individualized policy that must satisfy all requirements of the law to address the existence of bullying in its schools.

Most policy includes many forms: Informal complaint form Formal complaint form Consent form Investigation form Letter to parent/guardian: bullying confirmed Letter to parent/guardian of perpetrator Letter to parent/guardian of victim: Bullying not confirmed Letter to parent/guardian of perpetrator: bullying not verified Log of verified acts of bullying

You can see: Forms don’t solve the problem. Improving school climate does.

Prevention and intervention strategy may include, but not limited to: (how implemented in Middletown) Implementation of Positive Behavior Supports (used in all Middletown schools) School climate survey (surveys done 10/11 at elementary, middle and secondary) Bullying prevention coordinating committee (District Data Team climate subcommittee) School rules prohibiting bullying (see each school student handbook)

Cont….. Adequate adult supervision and role- modeling (all staff trained and using PBS) Inclusion of grade appropriate curricula- (we need to teach appropriate behavior)

Cont….. Individual interventions (all staff involved in PBS, mental health professionals provide specific interventions) School wide training Parent/guardian involvement in bullying prevention (or better yet, improving school climate)

Where are we now? A quick read of the headlines or scan of TV channels shows that bullying is the “hot” topic of the day In reality, these issues have been around for a long time (even Charles Dickens wrote about it)

Where are we going? Schools are working on fostering a climate that promotes such prosocial behaviors There is so much being done but it doesn’t draw the attention of the media. We need to do better promotion. It takes a community to make change.

In sum If there were an easy fix, we would have fixed it. We must all continue to work together, to be role models for our children who are watching our every move.

To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right. ~Confucius

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ~Robert F. Kennedy

If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book

If everyone howled at every injustice, every act of barbarism, every act of unkindness, then we would be taking the first step towards a real humanity. ~Nelson DeMille