ANTI-BULLYING

#LadiesOfTheIE #Servolution #InlandEmpire

What is Bullying?

Bullying is any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications

made in writing or by means of an electronic act, and including one or more acts committed by a

pupil or group of pupils as defined in the Education Code §§48900.2, 48900.3, or 48900.4,

directed toward one or more pupils that can have a negative effect on a student or students.

What is School Climate?

NSCC defines school climate as the quality and character of school life. School climate is based on patterns of students', parents' and school personnel's experience of school life; it also reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures. A school's climate is a very important factor in student success and learning. It is important that you understand what school climate is and how it's assessed so that you can be sure you are positively impacting your school's learning environment. The National School Climate Council and many researchers have established four factors of school climate which are detailed below:

Factor 1- Safety

It should be obvious that schools need to be concerned with the safety of all those who work and learn in the building. Imagine trying to learn in a classroom where you were afraid something or someone was going to physically harm you. It would be quite difficult, even for an adult, let alone more vulnerable young people.
The safety factor encompasses all of the rules, regulations, and norms associated with physical, social, and emotional safety. A school that has clear rules for physical and emotional violence and is responsive to those issues will have a safe school climate. By ensuring that students feel safe, schools help students worry less about potential danger and focus on learning.

Factor 2- Teaching and Learning

A teacher who doesn't encourage students or provide constructive feedback to students is contributing negatively to a school's climate. Additionally, an administration that doesn't concern itself with teaching responsible decision making and healthy conflict resolution is creating a bad school climate. These two examples both fall under the teaching and learning factor of school climate. Teachers and other professionals should strive to create a learning environment in which students are challenged, take risks, and act responsibly and civilly.

Factor 3- Interpersonal Relationships

Imagine working or learning in a place where everyone is cold and distant from one another. In this place, no one gives or receives support and people are expected to thrive completely on their own. You might be thinking that this seems like an impossible situation- no one could succeed in that environment. And you are 100% right.
In order to have a good school climate, schools should foster healthy, supportive interpersonal relationships at every level. This means teaching respect for differences between students and adults. It also means creating and maintaining social support systems for both teachers and students. No one can be successful all on their own, so a school must have systems in place to ensure no one is 'left out in the cold.'

Factor 4- Institutional Environment

No one wants to work or learn in a place that is dirty or where they feel like they don't belong. By ensuring that the actual building itself is taken care of, teachers and other professionals can help students learn and be more productive. Additionally, creating an environment where everyone feels like they belong and are part of the same team is important for school climate. This includes parents and the wider community, not just those who learn and work in the school.

Source: http://study.com/academy/lesson/school-climate-definition-assessment.html

Why is This Important to Know?

The U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education studied 37 school shootings involving 41 attackers over a 26-year period, with the aim of helping schools understand how to better identify students who might pose a threat (i.e. be likely to mount an attack upon the school). Their conclusion: even though these attacks were rarely impulsive acts, there is no useful or accurate "profile" that can be used to identify school shooters beforehand. However, most attackers were bullied; they also said and did things prior to the attack that indicated a need for help, and even involved other students in - or informed them of - their plans. For these reasons, a school is better served by creating a climate free of bullying, and where students feel valued, included and connected to their school, and thus more comfortable to report to adults information about potentially dangerous situations. "School climate affected whether bystanders came forward with information related to the threats... Bystanders who came forward with information commented that they were influenced by positive relations with one or more adults, teachers, or staff, and/or a feeling within the school that the information would be taken seriously and addressed appropriately."

Source: http://community-matters.org/research-and-results/bullying-prevention-research

Percentage of Bullying/Harassment That Was Reported by Students 2011-2013

What a Victim of Bullying Looks Like

The video below is heartbreaking, what is worse is that her story is more common than not. This is why we feel so strongly about the Fuel For Success Program because it does not just address bullying. It also addresses the need for self confidence and good self esteem and how to have both at a very young age where kids are still impressionable. Bullies are never successful in their attacks on those with good self esteem and confidence so it is imperative that we address these issues as part of ALL anti-bullying approaches and models.

The point we CAN NOT STRESS ENOUGH is that as a community and as parents, we have to take responsibility for the children that are bullies and get them the help needed to find the root issue of their bullying behavior.

As a community and as parents we need to pay attention to the words used when talking to children and each other. Are we using language and words to build self confidence and good self esteem? To learn more about bullying, self esteem, and self confidence please read the literature and articles as well as some parent guides that will be at the bottom of this page under "Additional Reading on Bullying & Self Confidence / Self Esteem". Thank you.

WHAT WE DO AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR ANTI-BULLYING IN THE IE

ANTI-BULLYING

We saw an article in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin back in 2015 about an Anti-Bullying Program that the Colton Police Department had launched and we immediately loved it and wanted to bring it to the west side of the county. We made contact with Colton PD Officer Smith and asked what we could do to bring the program out this way. Several meetings later with the Upland Unified School District and the Upland Police Department for about a year almost to the date, we finally received the approval to have our first "Fuel for Success - Superhero Day" at Valencia Elementary School in Upland, CA. It was a HUGE success and so much fun!!!

The program has many great points to it, for instance it's FREE!! Any city with a school resource officer employed with their Police Department automatically makes the program free. Of course this does not account for the manpower and various materials needed for the day of the event which consists of between 5 to 10 officers for one hour in the morning, 1-3 officers for 2 hours in the afternoon, and about $300-$500 in material costs per event. The program itself is sponsored by Shell and partnered with NASCAR driver Joey Logano via the Joey Logano Foundation as well as Penske. The concept is to bring in local police departments and various agencies to show the benefit of working together as well as giving the kids a positive encounter with law enforcement at a young age so it will leave a positive impact on them (this also touches on our #CommunityOutreach project).

The theme is ANYONE can be a SUPERHERO no matter how big or small and because of this that means ANYONE can stand up for someone being bullied. Officers, faculty, staff, volunteers, and students all wear their superhero gear the day of the event with notices sent home to parents about what SUPERHERO DAY is. In the morning while kids come onto campus we have motivational, high energy music playing and the NASCAR truck on site compliments of Officer Smith and Colton PD, Everyone waves a poster or sign with motivational phrases, sayings, and messages while we cheer the kids on as they walk onto campus. The kids ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PORTION OF THE EVENT, the majority of kids give the most feedback on the morning segment and it has ALL been POSITIVE.

After the bell rings the kids go to class and we begin setting up. There are generally two assemblies; one for grades 1st through 3rd and a second assembly for grades 4th through 6th. The assemblies have a visual presentation, two short videos along with a variety of interactive exercises and skits on what self confidence is, what self esteem is, the different types of bullying, and how anyone can be a superhero for someone. There is also a poster contest per grade level with gifts from the crew. After the two assemblies we move on with 15 minute classroom visits for all the Kindergarten classes. The classroom visits consist of a mini version of the assemblies.

We have brought the Fuel For Success Anti-Bullying Program / Superhero Day to Valencia Elementary, Sycamore Elementary, Sierra Vista Elementary, Baldy View Elementary, and coming up this Winter we will be bringing it to Cabrillo Elementary. At Sierra Vista Elementary the Principal was able to get the San Bernardino County helicopter to land on the field for a nice surprise for the kids.

We have been speaking with the school district and police department on how we can expand the program to make it more site specific and ways to implement some practices to keep it fresh with the kids. Our goal is to bring the Fuel For Success program to all the elementary schools in the district within the next school year and eventually making our way to the junior high schools and all the schools in the IE!!!

This program is one of the most successful projects to date. When benchmarking our impact we were learned that our very first school went from 12 reported cases of bullying to 1 reported case after just one year!!! That is HUGE!! We are so excited to see where this will lead us next so stay tuned and please consider donating to this project. Even though the program itself is free it does cost for the materials needed for each event which can run around $300-$500. So please join the #Servolution and support this project with us on #GivingTuesday