FOREST EDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

COMMUNITY

Forest Edge Community Meeting

Bullying Prevention and Intervention: Parents and Schools

Working Together

Our goal is to move forward as a united team of parents, students, and school staff to continue to keep Forest Edge a safe place to learn and grow.

Our Goals

1. To create a positive, secure & supportive school climate

2. To integrate and align bullying prevention and

intervention practices within the school’s positive behavior approach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-w0lJMsZvA

Essential Components of Bullying Prevention and Intervention

1. Defining Bullying and Harassment

-a common definition based on SR & R Guidelines

-types of bullying identified and defined

Definitions of Bullying

SR & R Definition:

“Bullying is physical or psychological harassment on the part of one or more students toward another.”

FCPS Working Definition: “Bullying is when a person or group of people

repeatedly uses words or actions to intentionally cause physical or emotional harm to another person.”

Three Key Features of Bullying

Involves aggressive behavior

Typically involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time

Involves an imbalance of power or strength

-Olweus Bullying Prevention Teacher Guide, 2007

Types of Bullying

Types of bullying are identified and described:

-Physical -Verbal -Relational -Cyberbullying

Steps to Respect Video Previews

Cyberbullying: 2005 Virginia Law

If any person, with the intent to coerce,

intimidate, or harass any person, shall use a computer or computer network to communicate obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious, or indecent language, or make any suggestion or proposal of an obscene nature, or threaten any illegal or immoral act, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Questions?

Essential Components

2. Understanding the roles of the student who is targeted, the student who

bullies, and the bystanders

Roles in Bullying Situations

Student who bullies- someone who engages in repeated negative actions towards one or more students

Student who is targeted- someone who is victimized by the person who is bullying; may be submissive or provocative targets

Bystander- someone who witnesses the bullying; may include the defender of the student who is targeted, the possible defender, the follower, the supporter of the person who bullies, the passive supporter, and the onlooker

Essential Components

3. Responding to observed or reported bullying incidents with school-wide procedures

Responding to Bullying Incidents

The student response will include:

informing the student who is bullying to stop, walking away if it doesn’t stop, and reporting the misbehavior to an adult to manage

Student Response

WALK

TALK

STOPTell the person to stop and use the hand signal.

Walk away.

Talk with a staff member right away!

The Staff Response

• Immediately stopping the incident, supporting the student who is targeted, and responding to the bystanders

• Follow-up procedures for the student who is targeted, the student who bullies, and the bystanders involved in the incident

• Parent/guardian notification procedures in place

Staff Response When Activities Perceived as Bullying are Reported

1. Talk to all parties involved including any possible bystanders

2. Make a determination based on information received (is this a bullying incident, does it break SR&R?)

3. Apply SR&R procedures if founded4. Inform parents

Essential Components

4. Providing adequate supervision for needed

locations

Essential Components

5. Monitoring implementation effectiveness

Essential Components

6. Communicating and collaborating with parents/guardians (procedures for parents to report incidents of possible bullying):

Contact teacher where incident occurred, if unsure contact HR teacher or counselor or administration

What Can Parents Do?

In General:

1. Emphasize your child’s talents and abilities to build self-esteem and

resiliency.2. Encourage your child’s participation in sports and in civic

and service activities.3. Create opportunities for talking with your child about what

he (she) experiences and observes in school.4. Take your child’s reports of bullying seriously.5. Encourage your child to report concerns about bullying to an

adult at school.6. Report your concerns to a teacher, the school counselor, or

the school administration.

If your child has been bullied:

1. Be alert to signs such as torn clothing, unexplained injuries, school avoidance, anxiety, sad mood, low self-esteem.2. Let your child know that bullying is not his (her) fault.3. Promote avoidance of bad situations and negative peers.4. Don’t encourage retaliation. Instead, emphasize the need to walk away and seek help from an adult at school in difficult situations.5. Report your concerns to the school and provide all the factual information. Check back with your child and the school to make sure the bullying has stopped. 6. Consult with a mental health professional if you observe continuing behaviors of concern– persistent sadness, health problems, school avoidance, or thoughts of suicide.

If your child has bullied someone:

1. Let your child know that bullying is not appropriate behavior.2. Be consistent in establishing rules, boundaries, & consequences.3. Become familiar with your child’s friends and their behavior.4. Teach the importance of empathy, compassion, and the ability to see someone else’s point of view.5. Model empathy and non-aggressive responses in your own

behavior.6. Consult with a mental health professional if problems with

aggressive behaviors continue.

If your child has been a bystander:

1. Teach your child that he or she should not be a passive bystander or

show support for the student who bullies.2. Help your child develop empathy, show support for the student

who is targeted, and become a defender.3. Encourage your child to walk away and get help from an adult if

they witness a bullying incident.4. Emphasize that it is not tattling to seek help when someone is

being bullied. It is doing the right thing.

Tips for Dealing with Cyberbullying

1.Talk regularly with your child about online activities and cell phone use.2. Tell them that cyberbullying is harmful, unacceptable, and can be acrime. Ask them to tell you if they become aware of cyberbullying orother inappropriate online activity. 2. Monitor computer and cell phone use . Access communications and usage history if there is reason for concern. 3. Caution your child not to respond to negative messages.4. Keep records of inappropriate messages and pictures and try to identify the sender.5. Notify the school administration, your internet service provider, and possibly the police about inappropriate activities, particularly if your child has been threatened.

Working Together

Sharing what students are learning so that parents can reinforce concepts & action strategies

Communication between the school and parents when an incident occurs

Involving parents in maintaining a caring, secure school community

Partnering with parents in adopting a solutions-oriented approach to bullying prevention and intervention

Next Steps

Positive Behavior Committee will continue to plan and monitor programs. Committee to include staff, parents

and studentsFollowing FCPS guidelines to incorporate Essential

Components 1-6 into current programsCurrent examples are:

-Character Counts Program/Bucket Filling Celebration to continue with

morning announcements to recognize students-Greeting our children every am and pm asking if they filled someone’s

bucket today-Third grade classroom experimenting with Bucket-Filling time

Needs Assessment- staff, students, parents

Seeking Assistance:

School ContactsPrincipal: Kim Price

Assistant Principals: Emily Cope and Sabra Lowery

School Counselor: Martha Hutchinson, Grades 4-6

Sheila Murphy, Grades K-3

School Psychologist: Ronne Lancaster

School Social Worker: Bessie DeFreitas

Resources

FCPS website: http://www.fcps.edu/dss/ips/ssaw/violenceprevention/bullyprevention.shtml

Bucket Filling: www.bucketfilling101.com Character Counts: www.charactercounts.org