1. TEACH OUR CHILDREN WELL Preventing Bullying at PPMS

2. The Middle School Years It is our desire to make your child’s time in middle school challenging, enjoyable, and safe.

3. The Middle School Years Middle school can be challenging at times due to the insecurities, confusion, and desire for independence that children experience as they begin adolescence.

4. The Middle School Years Pilgrim Park is committed to guiding our students through this time so they can learn from mistakes, recover from struggles, and be proud of their accomplishments.

5. The Adolescent Brain Adolescents think uniquely. Need for Acceptance Abstract Thinking Identity confusion The Spotlight Syndrome Need for Independence

6. With Adolescence comes BULLYING Adolescents often feel… Inadequate Rejected Powerless

7. With Adolescence comes Bullying When children are bullied, they feel inadequate, rejected, and powerless. They believe the whole world agrees with the bully, and therefore feel alone. The VictimThe Bully

8. With Adolescence comes Bullying When a child is bullied, he feels inadequate, rejected, and powerless. He believes the whole world agrees with the bully, and therefore feels alone. When children bully others, they feel inadequate, fearful of rejection, and desire power. They bully others to gain status and acceptance in a public way in hopes of not being alone. The VictimThe Bully

9. What is bullying? Bullying is the intentional and repeated use of negative actions by one or more students that involves an imbalance of power.

10. Types of Bullying  Physical  Verbal  Psychological  Cyber

11. Bullying is a BEHAVIOR Not an identity. Hurt breeds hurt. ANYONE CAN CHOOSE TO BULLY.

12. Bullying HURTS the VICTIM  Victims are more likely to experience… depression, lower self-esteem, physical side effects, loneliness and rejection, A dislike for school

13. Bullying HURTS the BULLY  Students who bully can struggle with… knowing right from wrong delinquency substance abuse academic success relationships with others.

14. Bullying HURTS the ENTIRE SCHOOL  Students who witness bullying behavior often feel … insecure in their learning environment fearful of standing up for what’s right, susceptible to peer pressure

15. We Need Your Help

16. Empower and Teach Convince your children that they are valuable and deserve to be treated with respect.

17. Empower and Teach Provide them with skills on how to deal with feelings of rejection, embarrassment, and struggle. These feelings are a normal part of adolescence.

18. Empower and Teach Do not tolerate negative judgment, prejudice, and discrimination.

19. Empower and Teach Do not tolerate disrespect.

20. Empower and Teach Do not tolerate hate.

21. Empower and Teach Be their guide, their reminder, their example.

22. Empower and Teach Be open to listening to them without judgment.

23. Empower and Teach Monitor their cell phone and internet conversations.

24. Empower and Teach Teach them forgiveness.

25. We are in this together Pilgrim Park is committed making your child’s time in middle school challenging, enjoyable, and safe.

26. We are in this together We provide education consistently to teach our children how to live peacefully and genuinely.

27. We are in this together We are available to help students who experience or witness bullying.

28. We are in this together We provide support to all involved in bullying behavior.

29. We are in this together We provide opportunities to learn and grow.

30. We are a team. We look forward to working with you for the sake of your children.

31. We are a team. Sincerely, The Pilgrim Park Staff