The bully prevention team at WWA has one main goal – to create a school where every student feels safe. To that end, we searched for a support program that can be used school-wide to help every child, teacher, and parent know how to recognize bullying and help put an end to it. After piloting several programs school-wide and careful consideration, the bully prevention team implemented a school-wide bully prevention program in the fall of 2007. The program chosen, The Olweus Bully Prevention Program, is more than a classroom curriculum, rather it is a multi-level, multi-component school based program that is designed to prevent or reduce bullying at elementary, middle, and junior high schools.
The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program works with interventions at three levels:
- School-wide Interventions
- Administration of the Olweus Bully Questionnaire about bullying (filled out anonymously by students)
- Formation of a Bullying Prevention Committee (including parents)
- Staff Training
- Development of school wide rules against bullying
- Development of a coordinated system of supervision during break periods
- Classroom-level Interventions
- Regular classroom meetings about bullying and peer relations (WWA has set aside Thursday as the day of the week that all classroom meetings take place. The Middle School students all take part in a class meeting with their last period, homeroom teacher.)
- During the classroom meetings, students and teachers discuss how to prevent bullying as well as covering topics such as including people in activities, helping others who may not be having a good day, and other important factors that contribute to the school environment. The idea is to go deeper into students’ experiences by teaching empathy, how to understand differences in people, and how to recognize the difference between tattling vs. reporting a bullying incident.
- Individual-level Interventions
- Individual meetings with children who bully.
- Individual meetings with children who are targets of bullying.
- Meetings with parents of children involved.
To find out more information about the Olweus Bully Prevention Program please visit:
http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/content.html or review the following links:
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
Working Together As A Community
Bullying can be prevented, especially when the power of a community is brought together. Community-wide strategies can help identify and support children who are bullied, redirect the behavior of children who bully, and change the attitudes of adults and youth who tolerate bullying behaviors in peer groups, schools, and communities.
The following link was created by Kristin Zanetell, an amazing parent in our community. The website was designed for parents, students and school faculty to find information specifically on cyber-bullying. The website links us to many excellent resources and most importantly discusses ways in which we can work together as a TEAM to support our children.
Dean of Student Life