Hello parents and guardians,
This month in Second Step counseling lessons, we are discussing ways to end bullying, as October is National Bullying Prevention Month.
The Second Step program defines bullying as actions that: Are repeated (or have the potential to be repeated) Involve a real or perceived imbalance of power Have the intent to cause physical or emotional harm Have a significant impact on the bullied student Adults often find it difficult to distinguish between actual bullying—where there is a power imbalance, intent to harm, and repeated behavior—and instances of peer conflict, which usually happen once and don’t involve a power differential.
What Students Learn In the Bullying Prevention Unit lessons, students learn: How to recognize bullying and that bullying is mean or hurtful behavior that keeps happening To identify caring adults to talk to about bullying and use assertiveness skills to report it That they can use assertiveness skills to refuse to let bullying happen to themselves and others And that bystanders have the power to stop bullying by including others, standing up for them, and reporting bullying when they see it happen What Adults Learn A big part of what makes the Bullying Prevention Unit work is that all school staff go through online training that helps them recognize and respond to bullying and distinguish bullying from peer conflict. Since students are learning to report bullying to an adult when it happens, all staff learn how to take a student’s bullying report and ensure the safety of the student. They also learn ways to prevent and intervene in bullying and practice following through with both the student or students doing the bullying and the student being bullied. Please look at the following link to find more resources.
http://www.secondstep.org/Grade-2/Families/Bullying-Prevention-Unit/Bullying-Prevention-Resources
Please contact me or your students' teacher to discuss any issues.
Thank you,
Mrs. Gabriel