The Truth About Bullying Panel Discussion

How do you know if your child is being bullied? What can you do about it? Could your child be the bully?

On March the 15th the Anne Arundel Medical Center is offering a free interactive panel discussion for parents and care givers. This discussion will give parents the opportunity to speak to and ask questions of representatives from the Medical Center, the Community College, Anne Arundel Public Schools, the Police Department and Balanced Life Skills Bully Expert Mr. Joe Van Deuren.

It is a FREE event open to the public. Prior to coming to the event you may want to take the Bully Quiz to see how many myths you may have heard, seen or believe found on the Balanced Life Skills website. Then come with your questions ready for the panel to address.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday March 15, 2011 at 6:30 PM at 2000 Medical Parkway / Doordan Institute 7th Floor AAMC Health Sciences Pavillion.

You may register by going online HERE and click on “Events and Classes” on the right,   or call to register at 443-481-4000.   If you would like your child to be trained in Bully Prevention please call Balanced Life Skills 410-263-0050.  We would be happy to help.

8 Steps to Prevent Bullying in the Classroom for Teachers

Every teacher has their own classroom management procedures and they no doubt will fit their particular personality.  The skills listed below are very general principles that apply to any method that you may choose and will have beneficial affects on the classroom and the students as well as the teachers morale.

Rearranging the Environment: There are some personalities that should not sit next to each other in a learning environment.  There may be, depending on the age other arrangements that can be made too, like sitting in a circle or huddled up with the teacher that may be affective.  How we line the kids up or transitions in the class can all be looked at to see if there may be another way for them to be done to reduce bullying.

Establishing Clear Classroom Rules: Setting expectations for students is important so there is no doubt in their mind of what their conduct should be in this environment.   Some may choose to have a set of rules and others may have a single principle that they attempt to live by like, “Do unto others……,  In my classroom I use single words.  Respect, Discipline, Control and Focus are my favorite. They can be asked simply by saying “Does that show respect?”

Being Consistent: Consistencies take on two aspects.  The first is, if you have a rule it must apply to all the children.  That does not mean that you are not sensitive to students who may have special needs.  But in a kind manner the rules and the consequences should be meted out equally.  Second is our own behavior.  As instructors we should demonstrate for our students how to treat others with respect.   We must demonstrate the discipline and control we want them to show.  Students will look at our example to see if we bully or not. Continue reading “8 Steps to Prevent Bullying in the Classroom for Teachers”

4 Steps for Parents and Teachers to Prevent Bullying at Home and School

Schools are not feeling as safe for many students as they once were.  In fact on any given day 160,000 students stay at home due to fear of bullying or other forms of violence here in the United States.  Everyone involved have concern in regard to the safety of children in school, from the children themselves to the parents and educators.  Yet for many educators prevention and intervention is difficult due to a lack of specific training.

Added to this is the issue that many times both teachers and parents have certain beliefs that we will discuss in detail later that tend to cause them to overlook true bullying situations.  When this overlooking occurs it leads the students to believe that the teacher or parent is not concerned or does not care or that they simply are unaware of the situation or problem leading them not to come forward to speak about the issue.

If there is one thing that the research shows Continue reading “4 Steps for Parents and Teachers to Prevent Bullying at Home and School”