Bullying Stops Here

This week, our behavior interventionist and a dedicated member of our Foundations team kicked off our first anti-bullying campaign. They began with a PowerPoint of quotes that our Media Specialist has heard from students this year like, "He hurts me everyday in the hallway when no one is looking.” “I don’t tell on him because he told me he would choke me, just like last year.” Then, continued with data collected in a survey of teachers, parents, and intermediate students.

Simply put, I was shocked. You see, Chets is an educational utopia, a close knit learning community where we all feel safe and supported...or so I thought. The data collected, may look outstanding to an outsider, especially if they work in rougher schools, but led to the alarming fact that although the greatest majority of our students feel safe within our classrooms, more unstructured areas like the hallways, cafeteria, restrooms, playground, and bus stops are an area of concern. And, many students, at one point or another, have been the target of bullies, have bullied themselves, or have been a witness of bullying. Students in the survey say...

I was physically hurt by a student and hit, kicked, grabbed or pushed.

•37% of third graders agree.
•52% of fourth graders agree.
•20% of fifth graders agree.

I was picked on or teased in a mean way by students.
•26% of third graders agree.
•48% of fourth graders agree.
•29% of fifth graders agree.

I felt left out by other students.

•38% of third graders agree.
•57% of fourth graders agree.
•29% of fifth graders agree.

So, in an effort to turn these percentages into 0%, the Foundations team has put in place a week of anti-bullying activities and among other things will be educating students through closed circuit T.V. Below is one video that will most likely be shared with our students.

If you have other helpful anti-bullying literature or campaigns going on in your school, please post a comment so I can share it with our team to ensure that all CCE students feel safe, unbullied, and appreciated. After all, even one student being bullied is too many. In my mind, I think, what if it was my own son?