Lesson 3

Participants Will Understand the Indicators and Early Warning Signs

  • Participants will hear narratives of bullying, harassment, and discrimination, (based upon the enumerated categories) as well as suggestions for how to handle each scenario.
  • Participants will learn and be able to recognize early indicators of bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
  • Participants will be able to recognize the reasons why students engage in bullying, destructive behavior and learn how to intervene.

 

The Dignity Act: InstructionPicture38

  • Non-discriminatory instructional and counseling methods

 

 

 

BULLYING AND HARASSMENT

 

“Kids will be kids” is a famous saying suggesting that bullying is a normal part of growing up. Yet with beatings, death threats, and 24-hour harassment via technology, bullying has become a dangerous, life-threatening epidemic. Children cannot get away from it, which has led to many suicides. Schools are struggling to take a stand against bullying, and with parents, politics, and the media involved, educators have a difficult time pleasing everyone.

 

Bullying can occur randomly or regularly. It can happen daily, weekly, or monthly. In fact, one in 10 bullying victims are bullied daily, while one in five victims are bullied once or twice a month (Mahoney, 2012). The bullied student can rarely predict when the bullying will occur, and if the student can predict the bullying, often teachers and staff may not address the incident. In fact, staff may not even catch the first few acts of bulling.

 

Schools need to find ways to reduce this problem. This includes having all teachers, staff, and administrators on board to prevent bullying from occurring. Here are some tips to help you reduce bullying in your school.

 

  1. Have a Clear Definition of Bullying.
    • Bullying occurs at all grade levels. An entire school district needs to have the same language within all its schools in order to reduce bullying. It is a repeated offense, even when teachers observe it for the first time. Talking to the victim about what happened and whether there have been past occurrences is very important.

 

  1. Remove Labels: Address Behaviors.
    • When teachers and staff call a child a bully or a victim, they place a judgment on that child, which can then cause problems in the future for that student.
    • When addressing students’ behavior, be nonjudgmental. First, find out what happened before deciding whether or not the incident qualifies as bullying (US Department of Health and Human Services). Looking at the specific behaviors that occurred is important so that they can be addressed at a later time. Keep in mind that each student involved in a situation comes from different circumstances. Everyone has baggage. There may be a reason that the child who engages in bullying behavior is acting this way. To fix the problem, involve the student who is doing the bullying (US Department of Health and Human Services). The student needs to know what his/her actions are doing to the student that is being bullied.
    • Ensure that the person who is doing the bulling knows what behavior is wrong, why it’s wrong, and what the consequences are for engaging in the behavior. If the behavior keeps occurring, the parents will need to be involved. Multiple staff members from various schools have reported that parents of kids who engage in bullying behavior come in saying that their children are victims because they’ve been accused of being bullies. But when teachers address specific behaviors such as disrupting the classroom or harassing other students, parents recognize that the behavior needs to stop.

 

  1. Set Clear and Enforceable Rules and Expectations.
    • Age-appropriate rules allow a student to know what behavior is expected. When kids are younger, keep rules simple. When kids are older, shape the rules to help them meet their maturity level.
    • Scheuermann and Hall (2008) have a list of suggestions for writing rules within a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) framework. The authors suggest that staff should:
      • State rules in positive terms,
      • Keep the number of rules to a minimum (3–5 depending upon age),
      • Set rules that cover multiple situations,
      • Make sure rules are age appropriate,
      • Teach your students the rules,
      • Set an example for rule-following behavior, and
      • Be consistent in enforcing the rules.
    • These guidelines for rules set a tone for the classroom. They can help the teacher have a well-managed classroom that is less prone to bullying behaviors (US Department of Health and Human Services).
    • The rules and the consequences for breaking the rules should be clearly stated. Students need to know what will happen if they engage in a certain behavior. This provides clear expectations.
    • Rules need to enforce respect, responsibility, and safety (Scheuermann and Hall, 2008). Rules should incorporate these vital components and apply to every situation every day to everyone. Remember, rules are there to keep students and staff safe.

 

  1. Reward Positive Behavior.
    • When a student does something bad, it’s easy to point it out, especially if the student always seems to be in trouble. What if you caught him doing something good? Would you point it out? Wright (2012) came up with the “Good Behavior Game” in which good classroom behaviors are rewarded during the instructional time of day.
    • Not many people choose to reinforce good behavior because good behavior is expected. This is a problem. When a child is always getting into trouble, then “catching them being good” is positive and reinforcing (Mahoney, 2012). Pointing out the good behavior acknowledges and reinforces that behavior. This way the student will be more likely to engage in the positive behavior again. Just like setting clear rules and enforcing those rules, reinforcing good behavior will give students clear expectations about what you want in a positive way.
    • The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends that schools “Try to affirm good behavior four to five times for every one criticism of bad behavior. Use one-on-one feedback, and do not publically reprimand. Help students correct their behaviors. Help them understand violating the rules results in consequences.” Following these suggestions can help reduce bullying behaviors by helping students become more accepting of the positive and less likely to engage in negative behaviors.

 

  1. Have Open Communication.
    • Communication is key to building rapport. When teachers have open communication with their students, their students will feel more open to talking to them about their problems—including bullying. Having classroom meetings is one way to build that communication. Classroom meetings provide a way for students to talk about school-related issues beyond academics (US Department of Health and Human Services). These meetings can help teachers and parents stay informed about what’s going on at the school and in the child’s life. Be sure to listen during these meetings. Empathic Listening is key. Students want to know that they’re truly being listened to. They need to feel welcome to talk to their teachers one-on-one, especially if they feel they’ve been bullied. Keep in mind that as a target, a student might not want to say something in front of the whole class or if the bully is in the classroom meeting.
    • Schools need to have adequate reporting systems as well. They need to encourage teachers and staff to report the incidents that occur. This way the school can provide a way to protect students and prevent these circumstances from occurring again. Reporting also helps track the individual incidents and responses so you can see if there’s a trend (US Department of Health and Human Services). By using this system, possible future incidents can be prevented. Make the reporting system easy to use and confidential, and encourage staff to use it.
    • Communication is not just verbal. A school can also provide nonverbal cues. These can include interior decorations like signs, it can include teachers and staff, and it can include the exterior of the school. The look of the school sends a strong message to students and parents about whether the school fosters a positive environment. If it does not send a good message, bullying is more likely to occur.

 

  1. Engage Parents.
    • Many people are involved in children’s lives. They all have an impact. When these people work together, the biggest difference can be made in a child’s life. Communication with parents about their child’s behavior—whether their child is a perpetrator of or on the receiving end of bullying behavior—can be tricky. Thus teachers and staff need to build rapport with the parents of their students.
    • Keeping parents informed about their child’s grades, friends, behavior, and even attitudes in school is an important tool when addressing behaviors. Working together, parents and teachers can provide a consistent approach to introduce more productive and appropriate replacement behaviors. This makes the message more likely to sink in and stick with the child. It can even help the child recognize when another child is being bullied or is a bully (US Department of Health and Human Services).

 

  1. Look for Warning Signs.
    • When bullying is occurring, there may be warning signs. Ask yourself these questions: Are you constantly breaking up the same kids? Do you get to the bottom of what goes on? Have there been changes in these children’s attitudes?
    • When a child is being bullied, he can show many different signs that indicate that bullying is occurring. Teachers may not witness every incident, but that’s why it’s necessary to involve other students, as well as parents. Does the child have unexplainable injuries, frequent headaches or stomachaches, changes in eating habits, difficulty sleeping, declining grades, loss of interest in school, loss of friends, lost or destroyed personal items, decreased self-esteem? Does the child avoid social situations or talk of harming herself (US Department of Health and Human Services)? These are only a few of the warning signs that indicate that a child is being bullied. No child shows the same signs.
    • There are also signs that a child is bullying another. Does the child get into a lot of fights or have friends that bully others? Is the child increasingly aggressive or sent to the principal’s office frequently? Does the child have new belongings, blame others for his problems, refuse to accept responsibility for his actions, or worry about his popularity and reputation (US Department of Health and Human Services)? These are only a few signs that indicate that a child is engaging in bullying behavior. In order to fully understand what’s going on, you must communicate and work with the child’s parents.

 

  1. When Bullying Occurs, Clear the Scene.
    • Most of the time, teachers and staff break up incidents as they occur. It’s important to separate the students involved so you can gather the facts. This allows the school to fix the situation while preventing it from occurring again.
    • Remember that there are often bystanders, and bystanders frequently encourage and reinforce bullies (Mahoney, 2012). It’s often easier to first remove the bystanders and then to deal with the bully and the target. Once the crowd is split up, get the facts. Interview the bystanders. When you listen, show empathy. You don’t know all of the circumstances. Remember to be nonjudgmental. That’s how you find out what’s going on. Get the story from several sources, including the aggressor, the target, and some bystanders (US Department of Health and Human Services).
    • Bullying is not going to end right away. Be persistent and consistent about stopping it, follow through with consequences, and follow up with the students after incidents (US Department of Health and Human Services). Show the kids that you really care, and you could become their trusted adult.

 

  1. Monitor Hot Spots.
    • There are certain places where bullying occurs the most, and these are often areas where adults are not present—areas like hallways, bathrooms, playgrounds, and busses. When an adult is present, children feel safer, and bullying behaviors are less likely to occur. It’s important for adults to be alert and to give their full attention when multiple children are present.
    • Statistics show that 47.2% of bullying occurs in a hallway or stairwell and 33.6% of bullying happens in the classroom (Mahoney, 2012). 20% of bullying situations occur on school grounds, on playgrounds, on school busses, when kids are walking to and from school, and in lunchrooms, gyms, and cyberspace (Mahoney, 2012). All of these places cannot be covered, so one way to stop behaviors is to have open communication. All staff must work together to keep these spots monitored.

 

  1. Know Your State Law and District Policies.
    • The US government also aims to ensure that students have the safest environments possible. That’s why 49 out of 50 states currently have bullying laws in place (Bully Police USA, 2012). All staff should be familiar with their state laws and regulations regarding bullying. They should also know what their school district’s policy is and whether it follows the state law.
    • The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention (2011) suggests that you find your law, find your district policy, match the law and the policy, educate district leadership on legal responsibilities, and ensure that your policy is being implemented properly. Train staff, educate parents, and ensure that the whole district is consistent when enforcing its policy (US Department of Health and Human Services). This allows everyone to be on the same page and helps students feel safe.
    • Bullying can be reduced. These tips will help decrease and prevent bullying in your school, and they’ll help you ensure that your students thrive in safe and caring environment in which they’re free to learn and grow.

 

 

MICROAGGRESSION

Here are a few things that can be done to remedy microaggressions in the workplace and in school:

  • Working to create a more tolerant and understanding place, by undermining negative remarks.
  • Promoting genuine diversity by understanding different racial, ethnic and national groups are key for balance, so inform yourself and others.
  • Speak on social inequalities and microaggressions when you hear them and see them, correcting people when they offend you, or they’ll continue the behavior.
  • Facilitate sharing and understanding of diversity in the classroom.

 

 

CYBERBULLYING

Discourage your students from responding to cyberbullying. Cyberbullies crave attention, so if the student doesn’t react, they might decide to move on.

  • Preserve evidence. This is crucial for identifying the bully and making a case.
  • Try to identify the cyberbully. Even if the cyberbully is anonymous or using a fake name, there may be ways to track the person through their Internet service provider. If you suspect that the cyberbully is involved in criminal activity, ask police to investigate.
  • Consider contacting providers and filing complaints. Sending inappropriate language may violate the “Terms and Conditions” of e-mail services, Internet service providers, Web sites and cell phone companies.
  • Block future contact. If the cyber-bullying is coming through e-mail or a cell phone, it may be possible to do this.
  • Contact your school. If the cyber-bullying is occurring through a school district system, school administrators have an obligation to intervene. Even if the cyberbullying is occurring off campus, make school administrators aware of the problem.
  • Consider contacting the cyberbully’s parents, if known. They may be very responsive, effectively putting a stop to it. On the other hand, they may become defensive, so proceed cautiously. If you decide to contact a cyberbully’s parents, communicate with them in writing, rather than face-to-face. Present proof of the cyberbullying (e.g., copies of e-mail messages) and ask them to intervene.
  • Consider contacting an attorney in cases of serious cyberbullying. Civil law may provide for a remedy, if other efforts fail.
  • Contact the police to pursue criminal remedies if cyber-bullying involves acts such as: threats of violence; extortion; obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages; harassment, stalking, or hate crimes; or child pornography.

 

Saving the evidence of the cyberbullying, keep abusive text messages or a screenshot of a webpage, for example, and then report them to a trusted adult, such as a family member, teacher, or school counselor. If the student does not report incidents, the cyberbully will often become more aggressive.

Reporting threats of harm and inappropriate sexual messages to the police. In many cases, law can prosecute the cyberbully’s actions.

Being relentless. Cyberbullying is rarely limited to one or two incidents. It’s far more likely to be a sustained attack on the student over a period of time. So, like the cyberbully, the student may have to be relentless and keep reporting each and every bullying incident until it stops. There is no reason for the student to ever put up with cyberbullying.

Preventing communication from the cyberbully, by blocking their email address, cell phone number, and deleting them from social media contacts. Report their activities to their Internet service provider (ISP) or to any social media or other web sites they use to target the student. The cyberbully’s actions may constitute a violation of the website’s terms of service or, depending on the laws, may even warrant criminal charges.

 

 

MARGINALIZATION

Ways to prevent marginalization:

  1. Self-Exploration
    • Examine personal cultural biases and assumptions. Explore personal perceptions and understanding of situations by developing an awareness of personal cultural “filters.”
  1. Comprehensive Integration
    • Integrate culturally diverse information/perspectives into all aspects of teaching. Consider moving beyond the constraints of a cultural history month by incorporating multiple perspectives into all aspects of the curriculum.
  1. Time and Maturation
    • Allow time for a process to develop. Introduce less complex topics at first, and create time to establish trust. Begin discussions by developing ground rules that allow for honest discussion within a respectful context. Recognize that the long history of mistrust between people in different groups will influence classroom discussions.
  1. Accepting Environment
    • Establish an environment that allows for mistakes. Since most people have been unconsciously acculturated into prejudicial and stereotypical thinking, individuals may not be aware that certain attitudes are hurtful to others. Acknowledge that intolerant thinking will surface from time to time in others and ourselves. Educators should model non-defensive responses when told that something they said or did was offensive to someone. Assume good will and make that assumption a common practice in the classroom.
  1. Intervention
    • Be prepared to respond to purposely-directed acts of bias. Students will carefully observe how educators intervene when someone is the target of discriminatory or hate-based behavior. Silence in the face of injustice conveys the impression that prejudicial behavior is condoned or not worthy of attention. Make it clear to students and their families that name-calling will not be allowed in the classroom. Appropriate and timely intervention is critical in establishing a safe classroom environment where all students can succeed.
  1. Life-long Learning
    • Keep abreast of current anti-bias education issues and discuss them with students. Clip articles from newspapers and magazines and post them in the classroom. Educators should let students know that they consider themselves learners, and that they see themselves as part of the learning process.
  1. Discovery Learning
    • Avoid “preaching” to students about how they should behave. Research indicates that exhortation is the least effective methodology for changing prejudiced attitudes; in fact, it often produces a result opposite from the desired effect. Provide opportunities for students to resolve conflicts, solve problems, work in diverse teams and think critically about information.
  1. Life Experiences
    • Provide opportunities for students to share life experiences; choose literature that will help students develop empathy. Make the classroom a place where students’ experiences are not marginalized, trivialized or invalidated. Prejudice and discrimination have a unique impact on each individual. Students and their families develop a variety of coping strategies based upon the type and frequency of discrimination they have experienced. It is never fruitful to engage in a debate over who has suffered the most. Oppression is harmful to all people in all of its forms.
  1. Resources Review
    • Review materials so that classroom displays and bulletin boards are inclusive of all people. Insure that supplemental books and videos do not reinforce existing societal stereotypes. When such examples in textbooks are observed, point them out to students and encourage students to think about them critically and to challenge them.
  1. Home-School-Community Connection
    • Involve parents, other family members and other community members in the learning process. Understand that families and others in the community provide the context in which students are motivated to learn. It is important not to view the school and the home or school and the community as isolated from one another; but rather to examine how they interconnect with each other and with the world.
  1. Examine the Classroom Environment
    • What is present and absent in the school classroom provides children with important information about who and what is important. Every effort should be made to create a setting that is rich in possibilities for exploring cultural diversity. Such an environment assists children in developing their ideas about themselves and others, creates the conditions under which children initiate conversations about differences and provides teachers with a setting for introducing activities about diversity. It also fosters children’s positive self-concept and attitudes.

 

 

Discrimination on Student Achievement

Traditional school reform has focused on four “cornerstones” for improvement:

(1) curriculum, instruction, and assessment;

(2) staff development;

(3) family, school, and community engagement; and

(4) school organization.

We can change schools so they can address students’ unique needs by utilizing C.A.R.E.

 

C.A.R.E. is:

Culture = The sum total of one’s experiences, knowledge, skills, beliefs, values, language, and interests. Learning is greatest when the cultures of home and school connect.

Abilities =  Intelligence is modifiable and multi- dimensional. Abilities are developed through cultural experiences; culture affects thoughts and expression.

Resilience = Displayed when protective factors alter a person’s response to risk factors (poverty, crime, etc.) in the environment. Resilient students exhibit social competence, problem-solving skills, and a sense of future.

Effort = The energy used in reaching a goal. Maximized when students receive teacher encouragement and high expectations for quality work.

 

Knowledge and understanding of the varied cultures represented in our public schools:

  • affirms our need to prepare students for their responsibilities in an interdependent world;
  • recognizes the role schools play in developing the attitudes and values necessary for a democratic society;
  • values cultural differences and affirms the pluralism that students, their communities, and teachers reflect; and
  • challenges all forms of discrimination in schools and society through the promotion of social justice.

 

Most educators across the country, whether rural, suburban, or urban, can attest to the changing demographics in America’s schools. About two of every five public school students are Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian/Alaska Native. The urgency for educators to expand their understanding of the role of culture in learning is increased by recent findings that “when students of color are taught with culturally responsive techniques…their academic performance improves significantly” (National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, 2004). Yet, there are not enough educators of color to accomplish this task; 90 percent of the public school teaching force is white. This long standing disproportion led Paul Barton of the Educational Testing Service to declare 10 years ago that, “all schools must support their teachers, no matter what race and culture, to become more knowledgeable about diversity so they can be better equipped to work with the changing student populations in their classrooms” (quoted in Coker-Kolo, 2002). This need for the enrichment of all educators’ knowledge- and skill-base is even more pressing today as the demand for the closing of the student achievement gaps abounds.

 

Developing cultural sensitivity and competence can be both a difficult challenge and an exciting opportunity for expanding one’s knowledge, skills, and beliefs. Training and professional development opportunities can be sought for school, district, and state level educators. NEA offers cultural diversity training that can help staff recognize the value of multicultural literacy and create an environment that is supportive of multiple perspectives, experiences, and democracy. Diversity training and the necessary self-reflection and persistent engagement with arising issues that follow can result in equitable education opportunities for students and significant personal and professional growth for educators.

 

Educators who understand culture can help students develop a positive self-concept by providing knowledge about the histories, cultures, and contributions of diverse groups. Thus, schooling has the potential to lay the foundation for eliminating all forms of discrimination and intolerance.

 

High expectations communicated regularly and consistently to students affect the achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Students in classrooms in which educators encourage them and expect excellence from them do, indeed, excel. And, students learn best when they under- stand the larger purpose or meaning for their learning — when they know why they have to learn something, and it’s not just for the test.

 

Understanding culture in our schools advances the practice of placing students and their life histories and experiences at the center of the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, infusing cultural knowledge into instruction promotes pedagogy that occurs in a context that is familiar to students and that addresses multiple ways of thinking. As advocates for cultural understanding, teachers and students join as partners in critically analyzing oppression and power relations in their communities, society, and the world.