Maintaining a Safe

1
Maintaining a Safe Respectful Learning
Environment

• Regis Middle School
• October 10, 2007

2
School Climate

• Refers to the relationships which educators
  establish with students.
  
• How we help students establish relationships with
  each other
  
• Working toward a community of learners who
  respect and value one another
  

3
Positive School Climate

• The environment is safe and welcoming
• People like to be here
• Caring and respect are evident
• Student input is valued

4
Safe Respectful Environment

• Improved school attendance
• Fewer behavior problems
• Improved interpersonal skills
• Better relationships between schools and
  families
  
• Better relationships for students, both at home
  and at school
  
• Improved academic achievement

5
Harassment

• The most under-rated and
• enduring problem in schools
• And the stakes are much higher now!

6
New Anti-Bullying/Anti-Harassment Law Senate
File 61

• The 2007 Iowa Legislature adopted a new law that
  requires all public and accredited non-public
  schools to adopt the new anti-bullying/anti-harass
  ment policy by September 1, 2007.
• This is an accreditation requirement.
• ABE Policy 5144.3 has been created to address
  this new requirement for all youth education
  programs, not just school

7
Prevention of Harassment

• Validates and promotes the dignity and worth of
  all students
  
• Models respect and concern for others
• Takes a stand against injury and violence
• Promotes a safe and effective school

8
We are to treat others as we would treat Jesus
Christ with our heart, our mind and our soul.

• Race
• Ethnicity
• Gender
• English language proficiency
• Migrant status
• Disability status
• Low-income status

9
When Harassment is Perpetrated Because of the
Following Characteristics

• Age Color Sex Gender Identity
• Creed National Origin Physical Attributes
• Physical or Mental Ability Disability
  Ancestry
  
• Political Party Reference Political Belief
• Socioeconomic Status Familial Status
• Race Religion Marital Status
• Sexual Orientation
• It becomes a potential hate crime

10
Harassment

• Involves intentional, and largely unprovoked,
  efforts to harm another.
  
• Can be physical or verbal, and direct or indirect
  in nature.
  
• Involves repeated negative actions by one or more
  persons against another.
  
• Involves an imbalance of physical or
  psychological power.
  
• Is a more juvenile term for harassment

11
Students Rights and Responsibilities

• All students should be informed of their rights
  and responsibilities
  
• All students need to understand their roles
• Prevention
• Intervention
• Reporting
• Maintaining appropriate boundaries

12
We are to treat others as we would treat.

• What are the consequences for the harasser and/or
  bully?
  
• Verbal reprimand, etc
• Probation
• In-school suspension
• Required attendance at Harassment/Bullying
  awareness training.
  
• Out of School suspension
• Expulsion from Regis Middle School

13
Where you are suppose to be when you are suppose
to be there

• We are to treat others as we would treat Jesus
  Christ with our heart, our mind and our soul.
  
• Before School
• You need your agenda.
• During school classroom, hallways, lunchroom,
  library.
  
• After school

14
Student-to StudentBullying Prevention Is Crime
Prevention by Fight Crime Invest in Kids

• 30 are involved in moderate to frequent
  bullying, either as aggressors, targets, or both
  
• 70 are bystanders.

15
Harassment Gender

• Male-to-Male
• Male-to-Female
• Female-to-Female
• Female-to-Male

16
Harassment Age

• Takes on different forms across the lifespan
• In elementary school, it is often physical, and
  therefore, more easily observed
  
• Peaks during the middle school years
• Transition from elementary to middle school
• Need to re-establish peer relationships
• Puberty
• Decreases in high school, and is more covert
  (less observable).
  

17
Aggressors

• Act impulsively
• Believe that violence is OK
• Lack problem solving skills
• Repeatedly select the same targets
• Are concerned with their own pleasure
• Want power and control over others

18
Aggressors, cont.

• Use and abuse others to get what they want
• Feel pain inside, due to their own shortcomings
• Have difficulty seeing things from anothers
  perspective
  
• Experience problems as adults
• Failed relationships (divorce, estrangement)
• Terminated from jobs

19
Bystanders

• Third-party participants
• Can instigate
• Can encourage or discourage
• Can passively accept violence
• Can help
• Can become aggressors or targets
• May fear retaliation

20
Be a POSITIVE Bystander We are to treat others
as we would treat Jesus Christ with our heart,
our mind and our soul.

• It is OK to have fear and doubt.
• There is strength in numbers.
• Everyone should take the appropriate action.
• Skills needed to take a stand.
• Be assertiveness.

21
We are all in this together.

• "He who passively accepts evil is as much
  involved in it as he who helps to perpetuate
  it."
  
• Martin Luther King, Jr.

22
Most bystanders do nothing about bullying
because they

• Don't know what to do, what to say, or who to
  tell
  
• Are afraid to get involved
• May consider the bully a friend
• Think the target 'asks' for it
• Think targets should stand up for themselves

23
Be an advocate for each other and for yourself.

• Don't join in - remove yourself
• Tell the bullying person to "Stop"
• Separate the bullying person away from the target
  student
  
• Separate the target student away from the bully
• Report to an adult

24
Sexual Harassment Terms

• Quid Pro Quo
• Trading this for that
• Hostile Environment
• Behavior that is unwelcome and repetitive
• Behavior resulting in an environment that causes
  a student, faculty, or staff member fear,
  anxiety, embarrassment, or shame
  
• It affects the targets desire to be at school

25
Mobbing

• A group of students ganging up to force a
  person out of Regis, through the use of
  
• Rumor
• Innuendo
• Intimidation
• Discrediting
• Isolation
• Humiliation

26
Homophobia We are to treat others as we treat
Jesus Christ with all of our heart, mind and soul.

• Fear/loathing of homosexuals
• Use of the word gay as a put-down
• Suicide rate of teens in the United States
• 30 times higher if rumored to be gay
• May have relatives who are gay

27
Hazing

• Is institutionalized harassment
• Is illegal
• Eat/drink disgusting things
• Abuse alcohol or drugs
• Engage in sexual behaviors
• Perform humiliating acts
• Engage in illegal activities
• Participate in extreme physical activity

28
Influence of the Media

• Reality(?) Shows
• Humiliation
• Fear
• Physical stress and pain
• Emotional distress
• Promotes a culture of cruelty
• Is this entertainment?

29
Sexual Harassment

• Is unwelcome and unwanted
• Is likely to interfere with study or work
• Can result from communication problems between
  people
  
• May be due to an abuse of power
• Is often due to inequality between the sexes

30
Sexual Harassment Gender

• Some males try to prove their masculinity to
  other males by
  
• Trying to appear competitive and dominant
• Behaving aggressively towards females
• Adopting group norms
• Succumbing to peer pressure

31
A continuum of unwanted sexual and
gender-directed behavior patterns

• Visual Verbal Written

• Touch Power Threats Force

Ogling Leering Posters Cartoons Graphics Maga
zines Flyers Pin-ups Gestures Mooning Flashin
g
Requests for dates, Very personal questions,
Lewd comments, Dirty/ Sexual jokes, Whistling
, Obscene Calls, Sexual Rumors Comments About
body parts
Love letters or poems, Obscene Letters, Note
s,
Graphics
Patting, Rubbing, Pinching, Bra- snapping, Bl
ocking, Kissing, Groping, Grabbing Hazing, Vi
olating
space
Retaliation Using position to request dates or
sexual favors, Gender- directed favoritism,
Disparate treatment, Hazing rituals
Quid Pro Quo, Demands, Request for sexual
favors, Retaliation for refusal to comply w
ith requests, Loss of job or position, Loss
of promotion
Attempted or actual rape, Attempted or actua
l assault, Pantsing, Stripping, Extreme form
s of
hazing, Stalking
32
In the eye of the beholder
33
REMEMBER

• It is the effect of the behavior on the victim,
  not the intent of the harasser, that is
  important.
  
• Treat people as they want to be treated, not as
  you think they should be treated.
  
• We are to treat others as we treat Jesus Christ
  with all of our heart, mind and soul.

34
We are to treat others as we treat Jesus Christ
with all of our heart, mind and soul.
Inappropriate Responses

• Its just teasing - no big deal.
• I know he/she didnt mean anything like that.
• Its your fault for dressing so provocatively.
• Just ignore it.
• Its just a joke. Lighten up.

35
We are to treat others as we treat Jesus Christ
with all of our heart, mind and soul.
Inappropriate Responses, cont.

• This kind of behavior is part of growing up.
• Why cant you learn to accept a compliment?
• You must have wanted it, otherwise you would have
  told him no.
  
• Boys will be boys.

36
So what do we do now?
We support each other. There is SAFETY in
numbers even if that number is ONE.
We talk with our peers, staff members and the ad
ministration when we see, hear or have anything
inappropriate that may happen to an individual.

37
Regis Middle School A safe place because we care
about each other.
We are to treat others as we treat Jesus Christ

with all of our heart, mind and soul.
38
Research-Based Prevention Programs, cont.

• Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders
• www.thtm.org/
• Bullying Prevention Program
• www.clemson.edu/olweus/index.html
• The Child Development Project
• www.devstu.org/cdp/
• Don't Laugh at Me
• www.operationrespect.org/

39
Table Talk

• Discuss your reactions to the behaviors listed in
  the chart
  
• Discuss your feelings about the information you
  have heard so far

40
Questions?
41
Bullying, Harassment, Sexual Harassment

• Please see
• Bullying Behaviors Chart
• in handout

42
School Climate, cont.

• I have come to a frightening conclusion
• It is my personal approach that creates the
  climate.
  
• It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
• As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a
  child's life miserable or joyous
  

43
School Climate, cont.

• I can be a tool of torture, or an instrument of
  inspiration.
  
• I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
• In all situations, it is my response that decides
  whether a crisis will be escalated or
  de-escalated, and a child humanized or
  de-humanized.
• Haim Ginott

44
Taken from

• Bully-Proofing Your Elementary School
• A Comprehensive Approach
• Bully-Proofing Your Middle School
• A Comprehensive Approach

45
Employee Rights Responsibilities cont.

• Administrators
• Teachers
• Coaches
• Nurses
• Paraeducators
• Secretaries
• Bus Drivers
• Cafeteria workers
• Custodians

46
Staff-to-Staff Harassment

• Jokes
• Emails
• Cartoons
• Pictures
• Objects
• Gestures
• Relationships dating

47
Staff-to-Student Harassment

• Use of sarcasm
• Inappropriate language
• Inappropriate jokes
• Disciplining in front of others
• Boundary issues
• Inappropriate touching
• Dating Disaster
• No such thing as a consensual relationship

48
Strategies with Aggressors

• Confront in private
• Do not ask why
• Use a no-nonsense style
• Use pro-social consequences
• Give clear descriptions of unacceptable behavior
  and consequences
  
• Do not have a long discussion about the situation

49
Strategies with Aggressors, cont.

• Correct thinking errors
• Describe the targets emotions

50
Strategies with Targets

• Use a supportive, fear-reducing style
• Reduce self-blame by identifying cruel behavior
• Demonstrate compassion and empathy
• Mobilize the caring majority
• Connect the target to helpful peers
• Teach assertiveness skills

51
When to address these topics

• Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd Bullying
• 3rd Harassment
• 4th, 5th Sexual harassment
• 6th 12th Harassment and sexual harassment

52
Improving Student Achievement, Not Just Raising
Test Scores!
53
Sports

• Coaches
• Parents

54
Components of Comprehensive Harassment Prevention
Programs

• Please see chart in handout
• School
• Classroom
• Individual
• Community

55
Research-Based Prevention Programs

• Exploring the Nature and Prevention of Bullying
• http//www.k12coordinator.org/onlinece/onlineevent
  s/bullying/index.htm
  
• Bully-Proofing Your School (Elementary and Middle
  School editions)
  
• http//www.sopriswest.com/swstore/product.asp?sku
  13
  
• Bullying Stops When Respect Begins
• www.keystosaferschools.com/bullyingstopswhenrespec
  tbegins
  

56
Passive Targets

• Lack social skills
• Cry easily
• May be lonely and depressed
• Yield easily to the aggressor
• Are unable to use humor to diffuse conflict
• Are unable to defend themselves
• Are likely to be anxious and insecure

57
Provocative Targets

• Are restless
• Irritate and tease others
• Dont know when to stop
• Fight back, but lose
• Easily emotionally aroused
• Make you feel like they deserve it