THE BULLY THE BULLIED
AND THE BYSTANDER
Helping them All
In this seminar you will learn:AND THE BYSTANDER
Helping them All
• The necessity of addressing the issue of social isolation and bullying.
• How to develop a workable definition of what bullying constitutes.
• The impact of teacher modeling of respectful communication.
• How to evaluate the problem of harassment and intimidation at your site.
• Specific strategies to work with bullies.
• The characteristics of the families of individuals who intimidate to gain power and control and families of the targets of harassment.
• How to identify those who are the targets of ostracism and harassment.
• To understand why certain individuals are targeted by bullies.
• To understand why individuals who have, Asperger’s, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, and Attention Deficit Disorder have an increased likelihood of being targeted by bullies.
• Strategies to work with individuals who have disorders that result in
bullying.
• How to empower the bystander to address bullying.
• Intervention strategies which can be used by individual teachers and
workers to create a safe community.
• Activities to foster caring and compassion among individuals.
• How to plan a school wide anti-bullying campaign at your site.
• How to implement an anti-bullying policy.
For anyone who counsels, educates or provides services to children, youth, and their families, one of the most underlying and unaddressed problems of our time is the degree to which bullying occurs in our schools, on our playgrounds, and within our communities. It has been estimated that at least 10,000 students in each state skip school at least once a month out of fear that they will be assaulted or intimidated by fellow classmates. Recent studies report that half of all students surveyed experienced a bullying incident at least once a week. Victims are at greater risk for depression and bullies are at four times greater risk for criminal behavior by the time they reach adulthood.
In the wake of the 1999 Columbine shootings in Colorado, only a handful of state legislatures have implemented anti-bullying policies and fewer still have even considered planning such programs for their communities. For the most part, it has been left to individual communities and school districts to create their own antibullying mandates, sometimes with mixed results.
In this powerful, approach-changing conference, Esther Williams, will offer a full day of specific information on how schools and communities can offer a safer, more practical approach to dealing with bullies and how to help the victims of bullies. Using a common sense method, her strategies, communicated in her new book, Breaking Down the Wall of Anger (YouthLight, Inc., Chapin, S.C.)., have helped hundreds of Social Workers, Teachers, Counselors, Psychologists, Nurses, Law Enforcement, and Allied Professionals become more confident when dealing with bullies and their victims. This session is a must for anyone who works with, lives with, or cares about children and youth.
Just because a school does not need metal detectors and police guards, it does not mean that students find schools psychologically safe. In a study 80% of students report that they have been bullied by other students and 15% may be severely distressed by bullying. The most natural starting point for reducing aggression in schools is to reduce bullying. People who bully are six times more likely to be convicted of a crime by the age of twenty-four. Aggressive behaviors become more resistant to change the longer it continues. Several strategies will be examined to work with people who use bullying to meet their needs of power and control.
You will learn:
• What constitutes bullying
• Long-term effects on bullies
• What to do about bullying
• Strategies to work with bullies
• Create a safe school climate
• Develop an anti-bullying policy