Bullying and Youth Violence in School

 For too many years, our government and administrators believe that the only way to battle bullying and youth violence is with more rules, new laws, and tougher enforcement, filling our schools with police, surveillance cameras, locking doors and placing metal detectors at every entrance. We are turning our schools into prisons where the adults act as prison guards that are watching and waiting for a prisoner (student) to attack another prisoner. Soon our children (students) will be subjected to the same treatment as any criminal in jail. The result is predictable, treat a child like a criminal and they will start to act like a criminal. Our government and school administration has to realize that school isn‘t the source of problems, it is a convenient place for violence to take occur.

 The best way to battle bullying and violence is to teach by example and by emphasizing how important proper behavior is.

 Principal Tony Bencivenga of Benjamin Franklin Middle School, New Jersey - turning out good kids who are confident, know how to work well together, care for others, treat people with respect, and possess a sense of self-worth is as much a part of his job as pointing them towards the Ivy League. "If we can create an environment where we feel good and care for each other, everything else falls into place.'

 The Right Start - The first class period is devoted to building a feeling of community that sets an encouraging tone for the rest of the school day. It can be the time when teachers invite the students to share experiences or talk about whatever is on their minds or write in their journals. Period One may be the time when a local police officer comes to the school to talk about what's happening in the community or when counselors visit the classrooms or when students work on the latest food or toy drive. In addition, the teachers, all of whom receive professional training in social and emotional learning from the Anti-Bully and Youth Violence Prevention Association (ABA), may teach a specific lesson designed to build empathy or cooperative learning skills or community service.

 Parental Involvement – A parent center placed in the school where parents can meet with each other and children would reflect on the importance placed on having parents as partners in doing what is best for each child, and they are welcome any time. Many children have caring parents that want to be involved in their children’s school experience, unfortunately many children also have parents that don’t care, are abusive or have abandoned their child. These children could benefit from being able to talk to and be with parents that do care and have enough heart to help other children in addition to their own. Children need to know that someone cares. Parents are encouraged to set meeting times during teachers' free time, and parent-teacher meetings are thus a regular occurrence, not a once- or twice-a-year special occasion. Parents also get a taste of the curriculum when they are asked to take a seat with children in class and observe, help or contribute to the learning experience.

Friendly Sports - Student athletics would include a "no-cut" policy that eliminates competitiveness in school sports. Any student who wants to play the athletic games organized by the school or the pickup games that sprout up may do so. Children should be allowed to be a part of anything they want to be in.

 If kids want to come to school early, say at 7 a.m., they are welcome. Students could study in the cafeteria, throw a few hoops before classes begin, or work on a school project, meet with a councilor or visit with a parent. A student store would add to the community feeling.

 Principal Tony Bencivenga says students who never thought of themselves as athletes have a special feeling of pride when they receive their "I completed a marathon" shirt. "That's an example of how I want to build self-esteem and self-worth through a regular education program," he says.

 Schools Dynamic – A school is a dynamic place with a constant change of students. Every year, new students arrive, others graduate. New teacher come as others go. This constant change can cause stress on everyone. That's why the Anti-Bully and Youth Violence Prevention Association would have an established center that can be used to acclimatize new arrivals and provide a welcome feeling instead of being thrown in with the sharks.  

 When problems exist - in many cases, existing schools can have many problems with groups, gangs and cliques. No one wants to step forward and speak up for fear of being singled out as a trouble maker. These schools may be ready to explode with violence and the suggestions above simply won’t work on their own. In those cases, special programs need to be considered. One program that works well and has won many awards is “Challenge Day”. This program has successfully changed the climate in many schools across the United States and Canada. Click here for more info.

 Anonymous Survey – give the students an anonymous survey to complete, this way they can let the school staff know of problems and how they feel. The school can then determine if things are brewing that could cause potential harm.

 Have class meetings

Class meetings are a great way to help students identify any problems and work on solutions that all can agree upon. Placing small groups of students in a circle helps to keep everyone on the same playing field. The teacher acts as a facilitator and encourages students to discuss problems and work out the solutions. The goal is have students take ownership of their problems and to be able to have the time to problem solve as a team. Meetings can be called for any reason. Stay focused and work toward achieving a goal that leads to action. Never allow the decision to result in an unfair solution that takes away another person’s rights

The party poster      

"For a positive way to encourage good group behavior, get a poster of any size (it's good to start with a small one) and cover it with blank sticky notes so that the picture is completely hidden. As the group exhibits good behavior, take a piece off of the poster. I looked at hall behavior, lunch behavior, group project behavior, library behavior. I also took a piece off of the poster if another teacher complimented the class on their behavior.

If the principal complimented the class, I took two pieces off of the poster. When the poster is completely uncovered, we had a party of some description. The rules can work the other way, also. On a day when the class just can't seem to settle down, I usually got their attention by putting a piece back on the poster! The teacher can giveth and can taketh away!"

Create a grade level social committee

Each grade should send 2 to 4 students from each class to meet and create a social committee for that grade. The purpose of this group is to create positive activities for all kids. These activities could include study groups for kids that are having problems in certain classes and need help. It could include reading groups where students that enjoy reading and can sit together to read and discuss books. Gaming groups where students can get together to discuss video games. Running groups where kids can get together and run as a small group for exercise. The result of this should be a committee that can work to include all kids and not just the popular ones. The school would then provide rewards such as a party or field trip for the committees with the best ideas and the most inclusion. Of course the school would also provide a party or reward such as a school credit for all the committee members.

Lunch Buddies

Big Brothers and Big Sisters have run a popular Lunch Buddies program in some schools. The program pairs adults with students for one hour, once per week. As the name suggests, lunch buddies typically meet during the lunch hour. School counselors select students who they believe could benefit from having an adult to "hang out with" a little every week. District staff recruits adults from various clubs, Chambers of Commerce, Shriners and other business and community organizations. The addition of high school students with a credit for the effort should also be considered to raise the weekly volunteer pairings.

Adopt a Cop – Starts in grade 1

A police officer is invited to a classroom once a month to talk about bullying and the consequences if continued at an older age. The officer is available to talk to the kids and becomes their friend. He/she shares stories of good and bad encounters with bullies and criminals and explains how bully behavior can turn to criminal behavior at a later age. He/she tells the stories of the victims of crimes to put a human face on them. Kids are given an opportunity to talk both publicly and privately with the officer to get advice on any problems the child is facing. If needed, the officer can visit every two weeks. This gives the children a chance to realize that police are people too and not just someone that hands out tickets. It also gives the officers a chance to see that not all kids are bad.

Good Neighbor Gang (GNG)

The good neighbor gang would be created by the school. The members would wear colors, school colors that is. The school would create jackets, caps and even bandanas that have the school gang name. These gangs would then walk the neighborhood in small groups and look to help people. If they see some kids alone in the street, they can stop to talk to them and find out why they are alone. The gang could arrange to visit homes in the community that are run down and clean them up to make the neighborhood more appealing. Gang meetings would be held on a regular basis to discuss new ideas for making things better for the school and community. These gangs can even patrol the schools in small groups to defuse and prevent any problems by mediating any conflict before it gets out of hand. School councilors would be available to help.

After taking action to tackle youth violence and bullying, programs have to be put in place to keep the momentum going. It also has to be remembered that problems outside the school system will continue to be a challenge. That’s why this whole school process represents 1/3 of the solution.

 For more information about fixing school problems see these links.

 Challenge day

Challenge day videos to see the results

Dan Olweus