Anti Bullying

Bullying is widespread in schools, regardless of its ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic makeup. And its effects, on both perpetrators and victims, can be detrimental and long term (Aronson, 2000). It can take on many forms from overt physical and verbal actions to indirect behaviors such as spreading rumors and inflicting social isolation. Unfortunately, teachers and parents are often unaware of the problem, do not explicitly address it, and sometimes even consider it a minor problem or harmless rite of passage (Banks, 1997). At our school, however, we believe that all students deserve a supportive and safe academic environment, and we take a proactive and firm stance against bullying.

• Promote the philosophy that “Our differences make us stronger”
• Institutional “zero tolerance policy” for bullying
o Teachers and administrators required to immediately intervene whenever it occurs
o Actions taken to help prevent future occurrences
• Peer conflict resolution program
o Student volunteers train and work together to resolve student conflicts
• Conflict Resolution Officer on staff
o Acts as an advocate for all students who feel unsafe, isolated, or harassed
o Handles major conflict resolution issues
o Coordinates Peer Conflict Resolution program
o Coordinates anti-bullying programs, projects, assemblies, etc
• Anti-bullying assemblies
o Biannual assemblies that address the issues of bullying, friendship, acceptance, and compassion
• Anti-bullying week
o One week of the school year is dedicated to projects and activities that promote anti bullying behaviors
 Art projects such as murals
 Lessons in class that explicitly address the issue
• Active whole class discussions that address major bullying issues that might come up with a class
• Lessons embedded in the curriculum that address diversity and differences such as ethnicity, race, homosexuality, and gender (issues that are often singled out and commented on by students)
o Gives students the opportunity to address these often taboo topics and develop an understanding of and critical perspective on them
o Lessons that discuss different words - their meanings, their histories, their associations
• Teacher collaboration
o During collaborative meetings teachers comment on how they prevent/react to the issue
o Evaluate their methods and share their most effective ones
• School wide environment of collaboration as opposed to competition
o Collaborative learning methods
o Emphasis on formative assessment
o Jigsaw learning
 Students work collaboratively in groups to reach a goal
o Emphasis on blurring hierarchal lines between administrators, teachers, and students

References
1)Aronson, E. (2000). Nobody Left to Hate: Teaching Compassion After Columbine. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company.
2)Banks, Ron. (1997). Bullying in Schools. ERIC Digest online. Available: http://npin.org/library/pre1998.n00416.html.
Submitted by S. Diaz