Administrators Tackle the Epidemic – Bully Prevention Programs

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Administrators play an important role in bully prevention programs. They need to be the first line of defense by helping the school community to establish a policy addressing bullies in school. Bullies can only be stopped with a strong administrative initiative to tackle the bullying epidemic.

First and foremost is establishing a no tolerance for bullying policy. Students,teachers and parents all need to see that the administration is 100% behind them in keeping the students and teachers alike safe and able to accomplish the tasks they have come to school perform. Among other things this means being responsible for enforcing the consequences/administering the punishments when bullying does occur and be the primary source for educating teachers, parents and students about bullying and bully prevention programs.

An important component of bully prevention programs is to create a community atmosphere in the school. When the teachers, students, administration and other school personnel function as a unit where everyone is accountable for their behavior, bullying can be stopped. This includes instructing all staff to recognize social hierarchy among students and empowering the staff to function as the leaders providing appropriate role models for all. Increased presence of staff in hallways and play areas at all times is another important deterrent. Students and personnel alike need to know that they are in a safe environment. If the school budget allows it, video surveillance of areas where it is not possible to have a human presence may also be helpful in some schools.

Administrators need to be responsible for establishing the procedure of whom to contact when a bullying incident has occurred. Be this the administrator,school social worker, other staff member; their name, phone number and/or email address, and hours when they are available to receive complaints needs to be posted and communicated in writing to parents, teachers and students. If there is an established policy for whom to contact, all parties involved will know that your school is actively working to enforce its bullying policy and that their grievance will not fall through the cracks.

Finally, establishing an anti-bullying slogan which is posted throughout the school and tagged on to morning announcements and all communications with parents will function as a constant reminder to all that bullying will not be tolerated. Administrators are the anchor of all bully prevention programs. Their talents,enthusiasm, and determination, can send a message to potential bullies in school:We stand together. Bullying is not allowed!

See related posts:

Fight Cyber Bullying

Profile of a School Bully

Bullying in the Classroom

4 Responses to Administrators Tackle the Epidemic – Bully Prevention Programs

  1. Don’t wait for bullying to happen. Be PROACTIVE. Superintendent of Schools Greg Darling, Humboldt, Iowa, reported fewer incidents of bullying after teachers in grades 2 – 8 read and discussed DON’T CALL ME MICHAEL. This chapter book is a story about bullying, friendship, and forgiveness. DON’T CALL ME MICHAEL is vehicle for classroom discussion to encourage students to talk about what is really happening in their school environment. A great way to begin your school year, this book will provide students with the opportunity to be part of the solution to bullying issues. An activity packet with project ideas and questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy is available upon request from the author.
    Check out my web site at joyceholtoncrawford.weebly.com. Books can also be ordered from Tate Publishing or on Amazon. An e-book edition is also available.

  2. J Mack says:

    A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform. She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stamp on it, and really mess it up but do not rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty is was. She then told them to tell it they’re sorry. Now even though they said…… they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind. And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it. That is what happens when a child bully’s another child, they may say they’re sorry but the scars are there forever. The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home.

  3. join the groups on facebook “”Education Problems “”and the group “Teachers Problems”

    christian yow sang
    teacher since 1991
    Mauritius island indian ocean

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