Focus Groups
How many of you experience stress or struggle with different conflicts in your day to day life? The HS Counseling Office, will collaborate with outside agencies to bring support groups for these issues. Some group topics may include but are not limited to:
* strengthening your study habits
* assertiveness training
* relationships
* anger management
* healthy choices
* life skills
* alcohol and drug-related issues
These groups will be led by outside facilitators and are open to ALL students. Each cycle will last 6 - 8 weeks where students participate in one session per week for 40 minutes. If you and or a friend benefit or are interested in learning more about these focus groups, please see your counselor for more information and a permission slip.
Bullying
What is Bullying?
An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.
There are three types of bullying:
1. Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:
Teasing
Name-calling
Inappropriate sexual comments
Taunting
Threatening to cause harm
2. Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:
Leaving someone out on purpose
Telling other children not to be friends with someone
Spreading rumors about someone
Embarrassing someone in public
3. Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:
Hitting/kicking/pinching
Spitting
Tripping/pushing
Taking or breaking someone’s things
Making mean or rude hand gestures
No matter how it happens, bullying and cyber bullying has the same harmful effects on its victims: heightening their risk of anxiety, depression, health problems, lowering school attendance and grades, etc.
Source: http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/index.html
and information from the article "Bullying and Kids - The Facts" by Lisa Murphy
Additional resources:
Cyberbullying Info:
http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/how-to-report/index.html
How Can You Help?
Awareness and positive action can significantly reduce bullying. Do your part to report bullying by taking the time to report it to a teacher or see your counselor.