*ANTI-BULLYING INITIATIVE*

 Grant Facilitator: Kim Nutter

      (Contact via e-mail= kenutter@methuen.k12.ma.us or phone @ 722-9076 X6512)

Second Step: A Violence Prevention Program

 Program Overview:

            Second Step is designed to promote social competence and reduce children’s social and emotional problems. The curriculum teaches students various skills that are integral components for healthy social and emotional development. Specifically, the program focuses on the development of Empathy, Impulse Control and Problem Solving, and Anger Management.

 Importance of Teaching Social & Emotional Skills:

 -          Social and emotional skills are very important in the development of healthy children. Children with weak social and emotional skills are at risk for developing problems in school (Wentzel and Wigfield, 1998) and later in the workplace (Spencer and Spencer, 1993).

-          Schools and families are the two most influential social and emotional learning environments for children; therefore, educators must capitalize on the rich opportunities inherent in school settings to teach positive social and emotional skills.

 How does the Second Step Program teach these skills?

 -          The Second Step lessons are broken down into 3 Units that should be taught in sequential order. The Units are as follows:  

 ·Unit I: Empathy Training – provides students with skills to increase their ability to identify feelings in themselves and others

 ·Unit II: Impulse Control & Problem Solving - students learn to respond to social interactions thoughtfully instead of impulsively using a calming-down strategy, a social problem-solving strategy, and a strategy of changing behaviors used to carry out solutions. 

 ·Unit III: Anger Management – Lessons focus on teaching students how to control their anger and apply problem-solving strategies in anger situations.  

     *The Second Step lessons are based on cognitive-behavior theory, which is derived from Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.

 Implementation into the Curriculum:

-          Second Step will be used consistently in grades Pre-K-2 in all classrooms.

     (It will be followed by the Steps to Respect program in grades 3-5.)

-          Parents will be well informed about the program and actively involved in order to support and encourage positive behaviors.

-          Positive reinforcement is necessary!!!

     Students should be acknowledged/rewarded for good behaviors.

-          Lessons should be taught about once or twice every other week; the duration of each lesson is about 30 minutes. 

-         Classroom teachers should be the primary presenters of the lessons with counselors and other staff members playing supportive roles.

 Why Classroom Teachers As Primary Presenters? :

- S/he knows his or her students best and can teach the lessons according to the group’s needs.

- Since the teacher is with the students throughout the day, there are ample opportunities to reinforce learned skills.

- Through presenting the lessons, teachers clearly establish themselves as the primary support people who find the subject matter important, thereby building a sense of trust with students.

- Classroom teachers can easily integrate lessons and learned skills into the general curriculum. (These lessons would fit nicely into Morning Meeting or any Circle Time.)

-          If and when lessons are taught by anyone other than the classroom teacher, it is very important that the classroom teacher is present and engaged in the lessons.

 BULLYING

Definition of Bullying: Bullying is unfair and one-sided; it happens when someone continuously hurts, scares, threatens, or leaves someone out on purpose.

3 Types of Bullying:

· Direct = “Face to Face” (involves physically observable signs of damage)

· Indirect = “Behind the Back” (involves social exclusion or slander)

· Sexual Bullying (occurs when a student is targeted by another with unwanted words, actions, or media about sex)

*The Reality of Bullying:

-          10% of students are chronic targets of bullying.

-          Almost all children have experienced bullying in some way.

-          Over time children who bully are more likely to experience a decline in their peer-group status and they only associate with other children who are overly aggressive.

-          Severe ostracizing by peers may occur and children who are bullied begin to internalize a sense of worthlessness.

-          Being the target of peer aggression has been shown to lead to emotional problems in children as young as preschool and kindergarten.

-          Being bullied can cause students to have both emotional and academic difficulties; academic problems include avoidance and dislike of school, which later leads to truancy and dropping out of school; kids who are bullied tend to have lower self-esteem and feel more depressed, lonely, anxious, and insecure.

-          Bullying can lead to school violence and suicide.

-          Many teachers and principals underestimate the amount of bullying in schools, and when they do witness it, they are often reluctant to get involved (Stein, 1997).

-          When children observe bullying, they experience confusion, lack of knowledge regarding what to do, and fear of becoming the next target; these conflicting feelings lead the child to focus on their own distress rather than helping the child being bullied (Eisenberg, Wentzel, & Harris, 2000).   

-          Kids say that when they tell adults about bullying they aren’t taken seriously, or they make them feel responsible for going back and working it out; kids believe that teachers thought that it was okay to behave that way because teachers didn’t intervene (Shakescraft, 1997).