Bullying Visual: Felissa Elfenbein

A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform.

She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stamp on it and really mess it up but do not rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty it was.
She then told them to tell it they were sorry. Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind.
And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it. That is what happens when a child bullies another child, they may say they’re sorry but the scars are there forever.
The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home.
Pass it on or better yet, if you're a parent or a teacher, do it with your child/children.
By: Felissa Elfenbein

20 Innovative Ways Schools Are Combating Bullying

February 1st, 2012 by Staff Writers

Bullying always has been a terrible problem plaguing schools in America and beyond, but it took a tragic epidemic of high-profile victim suicides for anyone to actually care about curbing the issue. Now that people are finally beginning to realize that treating one another like garbage over petty details might not be the best thing for students, parents and school districts alike are formulating various strategies to put an end to the madness. Some are actually incredibly innovative, although some of the more traditional methods boast their own benefits as well.

1. Incorporating babies into the classroom

   Toronto-based Roots of Empathy and similar organizations have started introducing babies into classroom settings with the hopes of encouraging students to build compassion. And so far, it's actually yielded results — participants tend to loosen up and pay closer attention to lessons and each other, lessening bullying instances in the process.

2. Comic books

   The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Stop Bullying initiative printed up comic books to distribute to kids with the hopes of shedding light on a serious issue. Other schools have run with the concept by asking students to write and draw scenes or stories of their own. Visualizing the realities makes it easier for younger kids to recognize the problem and either intervene or fetch a caring adult.

3. Film

   Similar to the comic book example, some schools have opted to show movies such as The Bullying Project and foster discussions between students, faculty, staff, and parents about the roots and solutions. More resourceful institutions might want to challenge kids — especially teens — to shoot short films of their own. Doing so will not only help bring forward real experiences and perceptions, but offer a sort of creative solace to bullying victims as well.

4. Have students teach one another

   If babies are unavailable, try establishing (monitored!) programs where students sit down with one another and simply talk. Areas with very diverse demographics could especially benefit from such exchanges, because cultural misunderstandings and stereotypes do often feed into bullying situations. In addition, this structure can also be adapted into a peer counseling service, nurturing a sense of connection and community dissuading brutality.

5. Bulletin boards

   Younger children with a preference for bright colors and engaging visuals might benefit greatly from learning about the bullying problem via bulletin boards. Kits are available through various vendors, or teachers can put their design skills to good use with something more original. Involving the students themselves in the creation process will only add to the education factor, encouraging them to speak up while speaking out.

6. Apps

   iPhone users suffering beneath a bully's grip now have the free A Thin Line app at their disposal — and those who do not own the smartphone enjoy the same perks on the accompanying website. MTV sponsors this digital discussion by allowing kids and teens to share their own experiences with unwanted advances and harassment. For the adults, they post numerous resources and questions to help them combat the serious issue at the authority level.

7. Puppet shows

   Pacer's KIDS AGAINST BULLYING program hosts puppet shows in schools as a means of teaching the younger set why bullying is unacceptable. Schools without the funding or resources to bring the initiative to their students can stage their very own performances using what's on hand — or task students with writing their own. Beyond puppetry, the same concept also works when presented as a skit or short play.

8. Peer intervention

   Training students to serve as peer counselors and advocates bridges gaps with the faculty and promotes greater understanding in the classroom. Pacer and other anti-bullying organizations burst with excellent suggestions about the best ways to nurture leadership and empathy skills needed to reach out the bullies and the bullied alike. After all, as the next innovation reveals, sometimes the perpetrators need intervention for more than just their behavior problems.

9. Therapy

   Many — not all — bullies lash out at their peers because of issues at home or within themselves, and the most effective schools realize they need as much (if not more) counseling than their victims. In Charleston, a partnership between Alice Birney Middle School and Medical University of South Carolina has started providing various psychological services for ill-behaved kids. When combined with a rigorous education regimen, their bullying rate decreased as more and more students received the mental help needed to be a more productive citizen.

10. Coordinating with sexual assault awareness, prevention, and crisis organizations

    Another fruitful partnership that quelled the bullying issue understandably involves anti-violence shelters and schools themselves. In Austin, SafePlace, which serves as a shelter for victims of rape, sexual assault, and domestic abuse, and a half-dozen public elementary schools teamed up for a CDC- and University of Texas-sponsored program dubbed Expect Respect. Unlike many other initiatives, it focuses on bullying in its myriad forms, comparing and contrasting instances on and off campus.

11. Adult intervention

    No matter how many peers end up with counseling and advocacy training, it's up to adults to properly discipline kids who bully. Any school hoping to curb instances of harassment, even assault, must absolutely ensure that parents, faculty, and staff all understand the signs of a perpetrator and a victim as well as proper intervention techniques. They also must make sure to always be available when witnesses and the bullied both need immediate assistance.

12. Involve students in policymaking

    In order to ensure the best possible peer and adult intervention strategies, the best place to turn for advice is the student body itself. Not only will this foster a closer school community by making kids feel appreciated and important, it also means updated information regarding their most pressing concerns. Adults are always inevitably a step or two behind youth culture; putting forth the effort to "get it" will make a world of difference.

13. "Character education"

    The best educations blend the usual academic subjects with lessons in displaying a strong ethical fiber. Unfortunately, that's not found in many schools. Your Environment Inc., one of many programs addressing this disparity, succeeded by incorporating parents and the surrounding community into the mix. Bullying impacts far, far more than just the kids involved, so making sure the neighborhood understands the details ensures a safer space.

14. Encouraging journal keeping

    Asking students to regularly journal their thoughts and experiences will not make bullying disappear, but it can supplement other activities quite adroitly. Ones not meant for peer editing or sharing will especially grant them a relatively comfortable venue through which they can channel their anxieties. Accomplishing this, however, requires a comfortable classroom where students know they might express themselves without negative repercussions.

15. Partnering with popular entertainment

    Since so many education experts and parents point their fingers at violence on television as one of the many pop culture phenomena responsible for bullying, it seems almost counterintuitive that they'd voluntarily pair off with an organization they often decry. Creative Coalition, National Education Association, and Health Information hooked up with World Wrestling Entertainment for the Be a STAR program, meant to encourage positivity in the classroom and beyond. Developers believe that delineating between the real and the staged will provide a better point of reference for students hoping to use fists over discussions when solving differences.

16. Implementing arts programs

    Not only are creative pursuits excellent strategies for preventing bullying from the top down, it also empowers students to feel more confident and expressive — tools needed to combat verbal, physical, and sexual violence. In Montgomery County, Maryland, in-school and after-school arts programs are intended to nurture positive traits and, in turn, healthier, happier campuses. Because they launched in the 2011-2012 school year, the actual results have yet to start trickling their way through.

17. Assemblies

    Old-fashioned, yes, but still an effective strategy for facilitating discussions about bullying and other serious campus issues. Depending on their needs and resources, schools can either bring in outside presenters or stage their own addressing specific student needs. Just make sure programming doesn't talk down to kids or focus more on "edginess" over education.

18. Mentoring younger students

    Middle schoolers, for better or worse, do look up to high schoolers for advice and insight about trends and attitudes. Some districts have taken advantage of this natural phenomenon by asking older kids to either mentor or produce materials (such as PSAs) for their eventual successors. Instead of turning toward outside sources, they reinforce their own communities by addressing specific problems and channeling any unique cultural quirks.

19. Music

    Start teaching students about the dangers of bullying earlier through catchy tunes, such as this Pacer Center album with contributions by Blue October and other musicians and poets. Music serves as an excellent mnemonic when learning about the alphabet, shapes, numbers, and other subjects, so it makes perfect sense that elementary school students could soak up social lessons the exact same way. Consider this or other compilations or stoke creativity by challenging kids to pen their own jaunty songs about how to not be horrible to one another.

20. Empathy education

    The whole "babies in the classroom" strategy is only one element in a broader movement toward "empathy education." Similar to character education, these lessons emphasize compassion with the goal of lessening bullying through love and mutual understanding. Such teachings either happen in the classroom, through special sessions, or via after-school programs.

Leadership (2 videos)

* Essence of Leadership

Mac anderson, successories

click here (2:42 min. video)

* Wisdom of Wolves: Leadership Lessons from Nature

Del Goetz, Simple Truths 

 (3:41 min. video)

     

Random Acts of Kindness Day (3:37 min. video)

Power of Kindness

Click here

Mac Anderson
Simpler Truths

To a child, Love is T-I-M-E

Click here to watch Love is Spelled T-I-M-E

Father’s Journal:

   “Wasted the whole day fishing with Jimmy.
     Didn’t catch a thing.”

Jimmy’s Journal:

   “Best day of my life.

     Went fishing all day with Dad.”

 

Doug Westmoreland
Simple Truths

Howard Zehr's: "Restorative justice three's"

3 assumptions underlie restorative justice:
* When people and relationships are harmed, needs are created
* The needs created by harms lead to obligations.
* The obligation is to heal and “put right” the harms; this is a just response.

3 principles of restorative justice reflect these assumptions:  A just response…

* acknowledges and repairs the harm caused by, and revealed by, wrongdoing (restoration);

* encourages appropriate responsibility for addressing needs and repairing the harm (accountability); 

* involves those impacted, including the community, in the resolution
(engagement).

3 underlying values provide the foundation: 

* Respect

* Responsibility

* Relationship

3 questions are central to restorative justice:

* Who has been hurt?

* What are their needs?

* Who has the obligation to address the needs, to put right the harms, to restore relationships? 
(As opposed to:

    What rules were broken? Who did it? What do they deserve?)

3 stakeholder groups should be considered &/or involved:

* Those who have been harmed, and their families

* Those who have caused harm, and their families

* Community

3 aspirations guide restorative justice: the desire to live in right relationship:

* with one another;

* with the creation;

* with the Creator.

"You Had to Pick on Me"

Matt Kennon - "You Had To Pick On Me"

http://www.youtube.com/

Click above to play

"Peacebuilding” instead of “Peacemaking”: Howard Zehr

because conflicts arise from specific contexts.

To address conflicts and build peaceful communities,

need to understand the contexts that lead to conflict &

create contexts that promote peace.

John Paul Lederach: it takes as long to end a conflict as it does to create it.

True peace requires us

not to just make peace by ending conflicts

but to build an infrastructure for peace.

Conflict “transformation” used rather than “resolution”

Conflict is normal and can often be an opportunity for growth.

Important to analyze and address

the relational and institutional context

in which conflict occurs and

to encourage healthy contexts in which

conflict is manageable and furthers learning and renewal.

Slogan:

 “Conflict is opportunity.  Don’t waste it.”

212°: the extra degree (2:49 min. video)

click here to watch.

212°: the extra degree, is a powerful metaphor and a mindset that can help each achieve greater personal and professional success. To understand the power of 212°, remember this law of science:

at 211 degrees, water is hot.

at 212 degrees, it boils.

and with boiling water comes steam …

and with steam, you can power a train.

Applying one extra degree of temperature to water means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine.
It is also a reminder for each to give the extra effort in every task, action and endeavor we undertake.

212° reinforces that seemingly small things can make tremendous differences as individual contributors and overall success.

Steve Ventura

Lost Generation: Live Inspired (1:45 min. video)

Can we reverse the destructive changes in our world?

(Click, wait, & video will play)
Watch this video for a bit of insight and inspiration in making it happen!
Ending will surprise you.



Live Inspired!

Life Secrets

Choices: Two Wolves Inside of Me (video)

Life is a series of choices. Where we are right now can all be linked back to every choice that we've made in our lives to date.

Every day we all make countless choices and every single one of them counts.
Copyright © 2010 - 2011 flickspire
Watch Two Wolves Inside Me

Simple Truths

FBI's Compiled List of Warning Signs

Cullen, Dave. 2009. Columbine. New York: Hachette Book Group

There is no profile.

Most perps shared a crucial experience: 98% had suffered a loss or failure they perceived as serious---such as getting fired, blowing a test, getting dumped.  This trauma may set anger in motion:
81% confided their intentions,
50%+ shared with at least two others. 
Danger skyrockets when threats are direct and specific, identify a motive, and indicate work performed to carry it out. 
Melodramatic outbursts do not increase the risk.

FBI’s compiled list of warning signs, include symptoms of both psychopathy and depression:

- Manipulation

- Intolerance

- Superiority

- Narcissism

- Alienation

- Rigidity

- Lethargy

- Dehumanization of others

- Externalizing blame

FBI added one final caution: individual matching most of its warning signs was more likely to be suffering from depression or mental illness than planning an attack.  Most matching the criteria needed help, not incarceration.

Greensboro Four Share Lessons with Students, Greensboro, NC

After a supporter stated she was so proud of their actions: "I learned a lesson for life...It made a terrific impression on me...don't ever stereotype anybody in this life because of what color they are, how old they are, how they might speak, or how they might look because about them you don't know."
Franklin McCain

"It's always good to do things together.  Just don't jump out there and do something cause you think it's good."
Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair Jr.)

You never really do anything in life by yourself.  Students who participated in the sit-ins faced heavy demands and lived with the threat of being arrested, jailed and physically attacked.
"Students then did something very noble.  They gave of themselves."
Joseph McNeil

"It's not about age.  It's about what you can do as youth.  You have a voice, and your voice is powerful."
David Richmond Jr., son of late David L. Richmond

Shared by Jonnelle Davis, News & Record, Greensboro, NC  2-2-2012

Woolworth's Sit-In, Greensboro, NC: Essay Prompt: Feb. 1, 2012

"What would you have done if you could travel in a time machine and be at the Sit-In with the Greensboro Four on February 1, 1960?"


"Even though I'm only 13, I would sit at the counter with them and tell them I was proud of them. I would have towels ready if somebody tried to pour a milkshake on them.  Also I would tell them to stay strong because someday it's all going to be worth it."

Shared by Educator Meredith Newlin

Don't Let Other People's Opinion...Run You (1:46 min. video)

Many let other people's opinions bring us down. When we give value to a negative opinion someone may have of us, we lose our power, become weak and settle for mediocrity.

Watch Jack Canfield tell this true story of what happens when you let someone else's opinion of you... RUN YOU.


Click to watch - Don't Let Other Peoples Opinion Of You... Run You